


The Doctor and The Professor

by StrikeMoonstone9387



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-12 07:44:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 75,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrikeMoonstone9387/pseuds/StrikeMoonstone9387
Summary: Not much is known about the Doctor or his family. What if he had a wife when Rose became a Companion? What if she was someone he knew from his childhood? What if they had children, children who have their own lives and families on Earth? How would things be different? How would they be the same?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A retelling of the New Who series w/ a new character, the Doctor’s wife, known to the Universe only as the Professor.

** Prologue **

The war was over. The Last Great Time War. Where the Time Lords of Gallifrey and the Guardian Confessors of Airedale fought a race known as the Daleks. But for the two remaining survivors, it was a reminder that they were alone, the last of their kind. As they looked at each other in the aftermath of the war, the Last of the Time Lords took his wife, the Last of the Guardian Confessors, in his arms and held her close as they grieved for those they had lost and silently begged for forgiveness from the ones they destroyed to save the universe as the TARDIS’s Song of Sorrow echoed through their minds and hearts. With one last look at each other, the Last Time Lord pulled a lever on the console of the TARDIS, taking them far away from the devastation of the Last Great Time War.


	2. Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the basement of the shop where Rose Tyler works, plastic mannequins begin to attack her. A mysterious couple known as the Doctor and the Professor, who tells Rose to call her Serayah, rescue her and they flee the building, which the strange couple then blow up. The next day, Rose and her boyfriend, Mickey Smith visit a man named Clive who runs a conspiracy theory website, concerning a man and woman fitting the Doctor and the Professor's descriptions, who have appeared throughout history. While Rose is talking to Clive, Mickey is kidnapped and replaced by a plastic duplicate. Rose meets the Doctor and the Professor again, where they reveal Mickey to be an Auton, and the three locate the Nestene Consciousness which controls the Autons at the London Eye. At this point, Autons come alive everywhere, mainly mannequins, and start killing other people. Rose saves the Doctor and the Professor and those that the Autons had been killing, and she decides to travel with them through time and space in their TARDIS.

  **Season 1 Episode 1 - Rose**

 

Planet Earth. Third planet from the sun, known as Sol 3 to the inhabitants of the Universe, in the Milky Way Galaxy. Home to over 6 billion people, all rushing about to get things done. Most of them go about their day in routine, not realizing just how big the Universe is, content in their own little worlds. One young woman is about to realize that her world is much bigger than she realized.

Rose Tyler’s day went as it normally did. She got up at 7:30 in the morning, got ready, went to work at Henrik’s, had lunch with her boyfriend Mickey Smith, and returned to work for the rest of her shift. It was as she was leaving that her life changed forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose and a few of the other girls that she worked with were just heading out when the security guard at the door called out to her.

“Oy!” he said, making her turn around.

She saw him holding out a sealed bag with money inside. He shook it slightly and she sighed. She grabbed it from him and walked at a fast pace to the service lift, pressing the down button when she reached. Waiting for it to arrive, she saw the guard close the doors of the shop and lock them. Getting in with a resigned sigh, she pressed the button of the floor she wanted to go to and watched as the doors slowly slid shut and take her down to the basement.

The lift bell ‘Dinged’ as it reached the requested floor and Rose slowly got out. Standing in the bleak corridor, she looked both ways and didn’t see anyone.

“Wilson?” she called out loudly, turning to right and walking towards his office. “Wilson, I’ve got the lottery money.” Reaching his office, she saw that his door was closed. Knocking on the door that said _HP Wilson, CEO_ , she called out again, “Wilson. Are you there?” Trying the door, she found it to be locked. “I can’t hang about, ‘cause they’re closing the shop.” She called through the closed door, still receiving no response. “Wilson!” she sighed in frustration as she still received no response. She was just about to try calling again when she heard a sudden noise behind her.

“Hello?” she called out, turning to the sound in curiosity. She began slowly walking down the corridor in the direction of the sound, believing it to be Wilson. “Hello, Wilson. It’s Rose. Hello?” stopping in front of the fire door, she called out again, this time somewhat more hesitantly. “Wil…Wilson?”

Trying the door, she found it unlocked and it opened with a slight push. Walking in and taking in the darkness of the room, making it look all the more frightening, she switched on the lights and saw that it was the storage room for the shop’s mannequins.

“Wilson?!” She called out again loudly, walking between the rows of stored dummies. “Wilson!”

Reaching the end of the row she was walking down, she noticed another door, this one with restricted access. As she tried it, the fire door she had just come through slammed shut, making her jump around in alarm. She ran back to the door and tried to open it, only to find it locked.

“You’re kidding me!” she muttered to herself angrily, tugging at the door handle with all her might. Hearing a sound behind her, she turned back to face the room. “Is that someone mucking about?” she cried out, slightly scared but trying to keep a brave face. She slowly walked deeper into the room, absently tucking her hair behind her ear as she tightened the grip on the bag containing the lottery money. “Who is it?” she called out, her fear giving way to anger.

Behind her, a male mannequin’s head turns of its own accord with a slight ‘creak’. Hearing the sound, Rose’s head whips about, just in time to see the mannequin step out of the shadow of the pillar it was standing beside. It slowly walked towards her as Rose slowly walked backwards.

“You got me.” She said softly. “Very funny.”  She saw another mannequin behind the first begin walking towards her as well. “Right, I’ve got the joke.” She said loudly, trying to draw out the pranksters. “Whose idea was this?” she glanced around behind her before turning to the mannequins still walking towards her. “Is it Derek’s? Is it?” she stepped back to avoid some of the other mannequins that were approaching her. “Derek, is it you?” She called out as she moved away from the mannequins that were, unknown to her, herding her towards the wall.

Walking backwards and taking in the slowly moving mannequins, she trips over a box. With a slight whimper, she regains her footing and continues walking backwards, wanting to get away from them as well as keep them in sight. The slowly herded her towards the wall, reaching a hand up as she closed her eyes, unable to watch what was coming next. She quietly said good-bye to her mother and Mickey, as she was sure she was going to die. Suddenly, a hand grabbed hers and her eyes flung open as she turned to look at the person holding her hand.

“Run.” He said as he pulled her through the door just in time as the mannequin lowered his hand and severed the pipeline that was directly behind her, missing her by a hair’s breath. She absently noticed another woman on his other side as they ran through the doors with the mannequins in pursuit behind them. As they ran down the corridor, Rose saw other mannequins reaching out to them, stopped only by the locked grates holding them back. Running through another set of double doors, they came to the service lift.

The woman pressed the ‘up’ button and the doors opened. Just as the man pulled Rose inside, the mannequin in front stuck its hand through the closing lift doors. The woman put her slim arms around Rose as the man wrestled with the mannequin as it made grabbing motions with its hand. The two woman watched (Rose in shock and the woman with a strange sort-of calm as if this sort of thing happened to her all the time) as the man yanked at the arm a few times before it finally came off, letting the lift doors to close completely.

“You pulled his arm off!” Rose said in shock, pulling away from the strange woman.

“Yup! Plastic” the man said cheerfully in a Northern accent as he threw the arm at her. Rose caught it on instinct as the man turned to the woman.

“You alright?” he asked her, his voice and expression gentle.

She smiled up at him and nodded as he put his arms around her in a gentle hug.

Rose took in both their appearances. He had blue eyes, a slightly large nose, cropped short hair with large ears, and a well-muscled 6”4 frame. He was wearing a dark maroon jumper with a leather jacket and trousers, with a watch on his wrist and a plain silver wedding band on his left ring finger. She had purple doe-eyes framed by thick lashes, elegantly arched eyebrows, button nose, pink dusted high cheekbones, full red cupid-bow lips, milk white skin, and a dainty 4” 10 hourglass figure. She was wearing a blue and white bell-sleeved top, white trousers, blue open-toed 5” sandals, a blue and silver charm bracelet on her right wrist and blue sapphire studs in her ears with a matching white hand bag hanging from the crook of her elbow (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/474566879474347084/>). She wasn’t wearing any make-up aside from a line of kohl lining her waterline, making her eyes seem bigger. Her long mahogany red hair was pulled into a high pony held in place by a matching blue and white ribbon, reaching just above her knees in layered V’s with lightly curled ends. Rose also noticed the wedding rings on her left-hand ring finger (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879474348717/>), as well as the strange pale silver-gold designs (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/63050463505901437/>) on the back of the woman’s palms, going up the back of her index fingers, coming to a stop just below that neatly manicured nails, and seemed to blend in with her pale skin-tone, only noticeable due to the lift’s harsh lighting. They both looked to be in their late thirties – early forties.

“Very clever. Nice trick.” Rose said shakily, causing the pair to look at her. “Who were they, then?” she asked, her shock giving way to irritation. “Students? Is this a student thing or what?”

“Why would they be students?” the man asked confused, turning to face at the blonde, though his arm was still around the woman.

“I don’t know.” Rose replied with a shrug.

“Well, you said it.” The man said. “Why students?”

“’Cause.” Rose started with a shrug. “To get that many people dressed up and being silly. They got to be students.”

“That makes sense.” The man said with a small smile. “Well done.”

“Thanks.” Rose replied sarcastically.

“They’re not students.” The woman said in with lilting and soft Welsh accent.

“Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he’s going to call the police.” Rose said matter-of-factly.

“Who’s Wilson?” The woman asked, in a lilting Welsh accent.

“Chief electrician.”

“Wilson’s dead.” The man told her calmly as the lift doors opened and he and the woman walked out.

“That’s not funny.” Rose said with a frown, shaking off her shock at the man’s attitude and walking out of the lift. “That’s sick!”

“Hold on.” The woman said, stopping Rose from getting closer to the man as he took something out of his jackets’ inside pocket. “Mind your eyes.”

“I’ve had enough of this now.” Rose said, building towards a rant as the man aimed his device at the lift mechanism and pressed a button and it emitted a fluorescent blue light at the control, causing it to disable with a few sparks.

Rose flinched at the sparks as the man and woman began to head down the corridor at the back of the department store.

“Who are you two, then? Who’s that lot down there?” Rose asked, still holding the plastic arm as she began following them when they didn’t answer. “I said, who are they?”

“They’re made of plastic.” The man replied, ducking through the clear sheets that separated the storage area of the department store from the loading, shipping and receiving areas. “They’re living plastic creatures.” The man began rummaging through his pockets as he continued to speak. “They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof,” the woman rolled her eyes as he continued rummaging in his pockets but not finding what he was searching for, and took something out of her purse and handed it to him, “which would be a great big problem if we didn't have this.” He stopped for a moment and turned to her, showing her the device, which was a small bomb. “So,” he continued as he began moving again, towards the back entrance to the department store. “We” he gestured to himself and the woman “are going to go upstairs and blow it up.” He held the door open as he gently pushed Rose out of the building.

“And we may die in the process.” The woman added as she stood beside him.

“Yes, but don’t worry about us. No, you go home. Go on.” The man said to the confused girl as she was pushed out and turned to face them as the man continued. “Go and have your lovely beans on toast.” His voice turned serious. “Don’t tell anyone about this, because if you do, you’ll get them killed.”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned back inside and let the door close behind him as Rose stood and stared in shock.

The door opened again just as she turned to head down the street.

“I’m the Doctor, by the way.” The man said cheerfully as he and the woman poked their heads back out. He gestured to the woman. “This is my beautiful wife known as the Professor. What’s your name?”

“Rose.”

“Nice to meet you Rose.” The woman, The Professor, said with a genuine smile that lit up her face.

“Run for your life!” The man, The Doctor, added as he waved the small bomb in his hand and he shut the door once more.

Rose turned and, after a moment’s hesitation, ran out of the alley and down the street to the main road. Reaching the main junction, she leaned against the building pillar and panted, constantly looking nervously at the mannequins in the windows of the shops around her.  Catching her breath, she crossed the road, only to nearly become a hood ornament of a black taxi cab.

“Watch it!” the driver called, honking his horn as he passed by her.

Getting to the other side of the road, she looked back at Henrik’s only to see it standing tall as it always did. She had just turned around to head home, ready to brush the whole thing off as a bad dream, when there was a loud explosion behind her. Turning back to look at the building, she saw that the whole upper levels of Hendrik’s had gone up in flames, as a secondary explosion took out a second level. With wide eyes, she turned and ran down the street as people began screaming at the sudden explosion on the, until then, ordinary night. As she ran, she didn’t notice as she passed an out-of-date blue police box that was standing between two shops.

When she got home, the 8:45 BBC News 24 was playing on the television and keeping everyone informed of the situation.

_“The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire.”_ The news caster was saying. _“Early reports indicate…”_

Rose was slouched on the love seat in front of the television and flipping through a magazine, the plastic arm (the only evidence that her encounter with the Doctor and the Professor was real) was tossed on another sofa.

“I know. It’s on the telly.” Jackie said, holding the phone to her ear in one hand and a mug of tea in the other as she spoke to the person on the other end. “It’s everywhere.” She handed the mug of tea to her daughter who took it with an exasperated look at her mother. “She’s lucky to be alive! Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now, you’d think I was _her_ daughter.” Mickey walked into the flat. “Oh, and here’s himself.” Jackie muttered as she walked further into the flat as Mickey went straight to Rose and ignored Jackie’s comment.

“I’ve been phoning your mobile. You could’ve been dead. It’s been on the news and everything.” Mickey cried hysterically as he knelt next to Rose and put a hand on her leg. “I can’t believe your shop went up!”

“I’m alright. Honestly, I’m fine.” Rose said as Mickey pulled her into a hug, grateful that his girlfriend was safe and unharmed. “Don’t make a fuss.” He pulled away and sat next to her.

“But what happened?” he put his arm on the back rest behind Rose’s head.

“I don’t know.” Rose replied, rubbing her forehead.

“What was it? What caused it?” Mickey probed.

“I wasn’t in the shop.” Rose lied as she took the warning she was given seriously, leaning forward and putting the magazine back on the coffee table, before leaning back and slouching again. “I didn’t see anything.”

“It’s Debbie on the end.” Jackie said to Rose as she walked back in to the sitting room with the phone held against her chest to keep Debbie from hearing what she was saying to Rose. “She knows a man on the “Mirror”. Five hundred quid for an interview.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant.” Rose said, sitting up with a smile. “Give it here.”

Getting the phone from her mother, Rose ended the call and slammed the phone on the coffee table before sitting back on the sofa in her previous position as Mickey watched the pair. Jackie crossed her arms in indignation.

“Well, you’ve got to find some way of making money.” Jackie pointed out to her. “Your job’s kaput and I’m not bailing you out.” The phone rang again and Jackie picked it up and answered. “Bev! She’s alive!” she said into the phone. She paused for a moment as Bev said something. “I’ve told her,” Jackie began, walking out of the room. “Sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death!”

Rose rolled her eyes as she heard her mother’s side of the conversation with Bev.

“What are you drinking, tea?” Mickey asked her as he took the mug she was holding from her and looked at its contents. “Nah, nah, nah.” He said, standing up and putting the mug on the coffee table. “You’re in shock. You need something stronger.” He took he hand in both of his slightly larger ones and gently tugged at her.

“I’m alright.” Rose repeated her statement from before, which was rapidly beginning to sound like a broken record to her.

“Now come on.” Mickey insisted. “You deserve a proper drink. We’re going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?”

“Is there a match on?” Rose asked him with a knowing smile.

Mickey looked affronted at the question as he sat back down next to her.

“No, no.” he said shaking his head and looking at her. “Just thinking about you, babe.”

“There’s a match on, ain’t there.” Rose said knowingly as she smiled at him.

“Well that’s not the point.” Mickey muttered, slouching slightly as his girlfriend caught his true intention for wanting to go to the pub, though he was truly worried about her. “But we could catch the last five minutes.” He added hopefully.

“Go on, then.” Rose said with a smile, gently pushing at his chest. “I’m fine really. Go.” As Mickey stood up, she gestured to the sofa where the plastic arm was. “Get rid of that.”

Mickey smiled and gestures for her to cone closer. She leans up and they kiss briefly before Mickey pushes her back into her slouched position as he stands up and picks up the arm Rose was referring to.

“Buh-bye.” Mickey says in a high voice, waving the plastic arm.

“Bye.” Rose replied with a laugh as Mickey pretends to be strangled by the arm and walks out of the flat.

Rose watches him go with a smile before it fades when he’s out of sight as she ponders whether or not the mysterious couple survived the explosion. She turned back to the television that was now showing the fire department putting out the blaze, as the news caster provided the commentary.

_“Fire then spread throughout the store. Fifteen fire crews are in attendance though it's thought there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure.”_

Outside, Mickey whistled to himself as he ignored a couple nearby that were having a blazing row and tossed the plastic arm into the bin that was standing beside the building before walking off towards the pub.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Rose’s alarm went off at 7:30 as usual. She turned the alarm off and sat up in bed, her eyes still filled with sleep and her hair tussled.

“There’s no point getting up, sweetheart.” Jackie called from the other room when she heard her daughter’s alarm go off. “You’ve got no job to go to.”

Realizing the truth in her mother’s words, Rose flopped back against her pillows with a sigh as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

A short while later, she got out of bed, years of routine not letting her stay in bed for very long. She dressed in a grey short-sleeved shirt that showed off her shoulder joints, jeans and trainers. Putting on her hoop earrings and usual amount of make-up, consisting of mascara and lip gloss, she went into the main room of the flat.

With no job to get to, it wasn’t very long before Rose found herself sitting at the dining table playing with an apple as her mother gave ideas of where she could get another job.

“There’s Finch’s.” Jackie suggested, coming out of the kitchenette with a mug of tea in her hand, still dressed in her pink dressing gown, and sitting down next to Rose at the table. “You could try them. They’ve always got jobs.”

“Oh, great.” Rose replied sarcastically. “The butchers!”

“Well, it might do you good.” Jackie told her. “That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I’m not joking about compensation.” She stood up. “You’ve had genuine shock and trauma.” She stopped behind Rose’s chair as she continued. “Arianna got two thousand quid of the council just ‘cause the old man behind the said she looked Greek!” she went into her room as Rose frowned in confusion. “I know she is Greek, but that’s not the point. It was a valid point.”

Hearing something rattle at the door, Rose looked towards the front door.

“Mum, you’re such a liar!” Rose called, standing up and walking to the door. “I told you to nail that cat flap down weeks ago. We’re going to get strays.”

“I did it weeks back.” Came Jackie’s defensive reply from her room as Rose came to a stop in front of the door.

“No, you thought about it.” Rose refuted, squatting down next to the door and holding her hair back with one hand.

Seeing several nails on the floor in front of the door, clearly removed from the cat flap. She picked one up and, out of the corner of her eye, saw the cat flap move. Moving back slightly, she crouched down on all fours, and moving her hair to the side, she pushed the cat flap open. She stood up with a shocked gasp when she saw the Doctor on the other side. She opened the door to see an equally surprised Doctor and Professor standing outside her door. The Doctor was wearing the same thing he was the day before, though his jumper was a lighter maroon. The Professor was just as stylishly dressed as she was  the day before in a light red off-the-shoulder elbow-sleeved loose fitting blouse, a thigh-length skater skirt, small diamond studs in her ears and 5” open-toed ankle strap sandals, with a white handbag slung across her chest (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/439945457333399974/>). Her long hair was once again in a high pony tail, this time held by a white and red woven ribbon and her wedding rings finished off her look.

“What are you doin’ here?” the Doctor asked her in surprise.

“I live here.” Rose replied.

“Well, what do you that for?” he probed.

“’Cause I do.” Rose said back, before adding pointedly, “I’m only home ‘cause some people blew up my job.”

“We must have gotten the wrong signal.” The Professor said to him.

“Must’ve.” He said to her before turning to Rose. “You’re not plastic are you?” he knocked her forehead getting a frustrated growl from the blonde teen in response. “Nope, bonehead. Bye, then.”

The couple turned to leave when Rose reached out and grabbed the Doctor’s arm and pulled him inside, before pulling the Professor in as well.

“Who is it?” Jackie asked from her room, hearing the nose coming from the doorway.

Rose ducked into the doorway of her mother’s bedroom where the older woman was putting on her makeup.

“It’s about last night.” Rose said, making Jackie turn to her. “They’re part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes.”

Rose turned back around and walked further into the flat, followed by the Professor.

“She deserves compensation.” Jackie told the Doctor, making him stop in the woman’s bedroom doorway.

“Oh, we’re talking millions.” The man replied seriously.

Jackie stood up, realizing that she was in her dressing gown and that there was a strange man in her bedroom.

“I’m in my dressing gown.” Jackie said softly.

“Yes, you are.” The Doctor replied absently, looking in where Rose was quickly trying to clear up some of the clutter with his wife standing in the doorway listening to his conversation with Jackie and holding back her laughter at where the conversation was going, as well as the man’s obliviousness to it.

“There’ a strange man in my bedroom.” Jackie commented leadingly, making him turn to look at her once more.

“Yes, there is.” He agreed.

“Well, anything could happen.”

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he finally realized what had his wife so amused.

“No.” the Doctor shook his head and walked further into the flat, putting his arm around his quietly giggling wife’s waist.

“Don’t mind the mess.” Rose said as she stacked some magazines that were lying about and putting them on the coffee table. “Do you want a coffee?” she headed into the kitchen.

“Might as well, thanks. Just milk.” The Doctor said.

“No, Thanks.” The Professor declined.

The Doctor picked up the magazine that was on top of the pile on the coffee table.

“We should go to the police.” Rose said as she began making the coffee. “Seriously.”

“Hmm, that won’t last.” The Doctor muttered quietly to his wife, looking inside the magazine and not listening to the blonde woman. “He’s gay and she’s alien.” He close the magazine and put it back.

“I’m not blaming you.” Rose said from the kitchen, not realizing that no one was listening. “Even if it was some sort of joke that went wrong.”

The Doctor picked up a paperback book and flips through it before commenting on its sad ending.

“ _Annwyl._ ” His wife said with a sigh, making him look at her.

“What?”

“Please behave, you’re in someone’s home.” She had a tone of exasperation in her voice as she took in his antics, which have not changed at all in all his years.

“It said on the news that they found a body.” Rose said from the kitchen.

“’Rose Tyler’.” The Doctor read from a file that was on the counter as the Professor shook her head as the man continued as he was. He got a glimpse of himself in the mirror and peered for a closer look. “Eh, could’ve been worse.” He said to the tiny woman near him.

“Yeah, definitely.” His wife agreed, coming to stand next to him as she reached up and wiggled his ear lobe. “Look at the ears!” she smiled at him and kissed his cheek before moving back and sitting elegantly on the single sofa seat.

“Anyway, if we are going to go to the police,” Rose said. “I wanna know what I’m saying. I want you both to explain everything.”

“What’s that then?” the Doctor asked, both of them hearing a rattling coming from behind the sofa. “You got a cat?” he knelt on the sofa as Rose replied with a negative response. The plastic arm that the Doctor had removed the day before leapt up and grabbed him by the throat and he struggled to fight it off. The Professor leapt up to help him, but grabbed her own throat as she felt her husband get strangled as if it were happening to her.

“We did have, but just get strays.” Rose added offhandedly. “They come in off the estate.” She didn’t notice her guests struggling to fight against the arm that was strangling them.

She walked into the sitting room holding both mugs.

“I told Mickey to chuck that out.” She commented, seeing the plastic arm, but not that it was strangling one of her houseguests, both of whom were now seated as they struggled silently, the Doctor having both hands on the plastic arm as he tried to pry it of his throat and save both of them from death by strangulation. “You’re all the same. Give the man a plastic hand!” She muttered, setting the mugs on the coffee table. “Anyway, I don’t even know your names.” She continued, standing up straight. “Doctor and Professor, what was it?”

The Doctor finally managed to tug the arm off his throat and toss it away, only for it to freeze in mid-air for a moment before grabbing Rose’s face. The girl screamed as she struggled against the plastic, being pushed back against the wall as the Doctor and the Professor jumped up and began trying to pry it off the young woman’s face.

In her bedroom, Jackie picked up the hair dryer and turned it, running it through her hair and not hearing any of the commotion occurring in her sitting room with her daughter and her guests.

The two strangers tugged at it with both hands. The Doctor tugged forcefully, causing all three of them to fall into the coffee table, smashing it to pieces as the Doctor landed on his back with Rose on top pf him and the professor beside them. The Doctor pushed Rose back towards the sofa with a grunt as he and his wife scrambled to their feet. The Professor once again began tugging at the arm as the Doctor rummaged through his pockets and removed his screwdriver.

The Professor managed to finally remove the arm from Rose’s face, who promptly scrambled as far back as she could on the sofa, as the Doctor took the still wriggling arm and aimed his screwdriver at it. When nothing happened, he changed the setting and aimed it again.

“Setting 12!” The Professor gasped, seeing him trying to use different settings only for nothing to work.

Putting it on the mentioned setting, he jammed the screwdriver into the plastic palm and the fingers stopped flexing, making the Professor give a sigh of relief.

“It’s alright.” The Doctor told the young girl. “It’s stopped. See?” he tossed the arm at Rose, who caught with a gasp and held it gingerly. “Armless.” He laughed at his pun as his wife rolled her large eyes.

“D’you think?” Rose asked, hitting him with the arm.

“Ow!” he cried, rubbing the sore spot and standing up. He became serious as he turned to his wife and held out a hand to her. “Aya, we’ve got to go.”

She accepted the hand and stood up, their fingers inter-locking.

“Thank you for your hospitality.” The small woman said to Rose, genuinely meaning her words. She turned and grabbed her purse, slinging it across her chest like it was before.

The two walked out of the flat, with Rose following moments later, having stopped to grab her jacket, when they reached the stairwell.

“Hold on a minute.” She cried as she followed them down the stairwell. “You two can’t go swanning off.”

“Yes we can. Here we are.” The Doctor replied. “This is us, swanning off.” He waved the plastic hand he was holding at her. “See ya.”

“But that arm was moving.” Rose protested. “It tried to kill me.”

“Ten out of ten for observation.” The Doctor remarked sarcastically, earning a slight slap from his wife.

“You can’t just walk away. That’s not fair. You’ve got to tell me what’s going on.” Rose pleaded.

“No we don’t.” The Professor said, speaking up for the first time since they left the flat.

Her statement was echoed by her husband as they walked out of the building block.

“Alright then. I’ll go to the police. I’ll tell everyone.” Rose said as she walked alongside the couple, making them exchange looks and small smiles. “You said if I did that, I’d get people killed, so, your choice.” She paused for a moment, as if to give them a moment to think. “Tell me or I’ll start talking.”

“Is that supposed to sound tough?” The Doctor asked her with a raised eyebrow, a smile still on his face.

“Sort of.” Rose admitted quietly.

“It doesn’t work.” The Professor informed the younger woman apologetically.

“Who are you?” Rose asked again after a moment of silence.

“Told you. The Doctor and the Professor.” He replied.

“Yeah, but Doctor what? Professor what?” Rose asked.

“Just the Doctor and the Professor.” The man replied.

“The Doctor and the Professor?" the blonde repeated skeptically, looking between the two of them.

“Hello!” the man waved his interlaced hand at her, making Serayah laugh as her hand was pulled up and waved as well.

“Is that supposed to sound impressive?” Rose asked, still skeptic.

“Sort of.”

“Come on. You can tell me. I’ve seen enough.” Rose said gently. She paused for a moment before a thought occurred to her. “Are you two the police?”

“No.” he replied.

“We were just passing through. We’re a long way from home.” Serayah added. It was true, they were just visiting some friends that they had made over the course of their long years, not to mention meet Siani’s new boyfriend.

“What have I done wrong?” Rose asked suddenly, bringing Serayah out of her thoughts and focus once again on the young woman following them. “Why are those plastic things coming after me?”

“Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you!” the Doctor exclaimed sarcastically, before promptly bursting the young woman’s bubble. “You were just an accident. You got in the way, that’s all.”

“It tried to kill me!” Rose reminded him.

“It was after the two of us,” he gestured to himself and his wife. “Not you. Last night, in the shop, Aya and I were there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, we were tracking it down, it was tracking us down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met us.”

“So what you’re saying is that the entire world revolves around you two?” Rose summarized what she got from the man’s statement.

“Sort of, yeah.” He replied nodding as Serayah shook her head in amusement.

“You’re full of it!”

“Sort of, yeah.” Serayah said with a lilting laugh.

“All this plastic stuff,” Rose started, turning serious. “Who else knows about it?”

“No one.” Serayah replied.

“What, you two are on your own?” Rose asked, surprised.

“Well, who else is there?” The man asked back, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on.”

“Okay,” Rose said slowly, reaching around him and Serayah to grab the plastic arm from his hand and making the two look at her in surprise. “Start from the beginning.”

The Doctor and Serayah looked at each other and Serayah nodded at him, silently saying that they should tell her something, and hopefully it will be enough to convince her to return to her ordinary life. However there was a part of Serayah that had the feeling that it was only going to make Rose more determined to find out about them.

“If we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?” Rose asked, as they three of them walked through a large field.

“The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead.” The Doctor replied.

“So that’s radio control?” Rose asked hesitantly.

“Thought control.” Serayah corrected her. “Are you alright?” Serayah took in Rose’s contemplative frown.

“Yeah.” Rose replied absently before turning them back on topic. “So, who’s controlling it, then?”

“Long story.” The Doctor replied.

“But what’s it all for?” Rose probed, confusion evident in her voice. “I mean, shop window dummies. What’s that about?” She gave a slight chuckle. “Is someone trying to take over Britain shops?”

The Doctor and Serayah laughed at the question, Rose laughing as well.

“No.” Serayah said through her laughter. “It’s not a price war!”

“They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you.” The Doctor said, his laughter disappearing as Serayah’s laughter followed suit and Rose slowly stopped laughing as well as she took in what the taller man was saying. He looked Rose, a move mimicked by Serayah. “Do you believe me?”

“No.”

“But you’re still listening.” Serayah pointed out.

“Really, though Doctor, Serayah…tell me.” Rose said coming to a stop as the two continued walking towards a corner where a blue police box was standing. “Who are you?”

They stopped and turned to face her. They were silent for a moment as Rose watched them.

“Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving?” The Doctor began and receiving a nod from Rose, he continued as they walked back towards her. “It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. Serayah can see it.” The Doctor took Rose’s hand with his free one as the two looked off in to the distance. “The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it just as Aya can see it.” Rose looks at them, and for the first time sees their eyes seem so much older than their faces. “We're falling through space, the three of us, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go...” He let go of Rose’s hand and they looked at her. “That's who we are. Now, forget us, Rose Tyler.” The Doctor took the plastic arm from Rose and waved at the blonde with it. “Go home.”

The two of them turned around and began walking again as Rose stared at their retreating backs. Two strange people, both beautiful and strange in an almost otherworldly way, with eyes that seem so much older than their appearances. As the couple walked, they could hear the TARDIS’ song echoing in the back of their minds, the only constant presence they have of their home and legacy that lived on through them alone.

With a sigh, Rose turned and walked back towards the flats. There was a sudden rush of air, followed by a strange grinding noise. She stopped and turned, listening as she heard the strange grinding sound again. She ran towards it, back through the field. She came to a stop where she was just with the Doctor and Serayah, only to find them to have disappeared. The blue box that stood on the corner had also disappeared. She shook her head and walked off, changing direction to go to Mickey’s flat rather than home where she had been intending to go.

Mickey opened the door after the first knock.

“Hey, hey, here's my woman.” He chuckled, smacking her bum. He was wearing a t-shirt and boxers. “Kit off!”

“Shut up.” Rose said, smiling as they kissed in greeting.

“Coffee?” Mickey asked her as they walked into the flat.

“Yeah, only if you wash the mug.” Rose replied as they walked towards the kitchen. “And I don’t mean rinse, I mean, wash. Can I use your computer?”

“Yeah.” Mickey replied before calling to her retreating back, “Any excuse to get in the bedroom!” He entered the kitchen and headed to the kettle before yelling out, “Don’t read my emails!” He didn’t get a reply, only the sound of the door shutting.

Inside the room, Rose let the door shut as she sat at the computer chair and looked at the open search engine. After a moment, she typed in ‘Doctor Professor’ and hit the search button. The search results in 17,700,000 results. She tries ‘Doctor Professor Living Plastic’ which result in 55,300 results. Finally she types in ‘Doctor Professor Blue Box’ and hits search.

Her last search results in 493 results, the top most result being a link that says, ‘Doctor and Professor Who?’ with the caption saying ‘…do you know this couple? Contact Clive here’. She clicks on the link and a fuzzy picture of the Doctor and Serayah beside each other. Below the picture was the caption ‘Do you know this couple? Contact Clive here’. And below it was a list of contact information.

With a shrug, Rose clicked the email information and opened up the messaging center. She sent the man an email and waited for a reply. The reply came a few minutes later.

The next hour passed with Rose and Clive exchanging emails, finally settling on Rose meeting him in person as he had several documents he thought she might want to see. She agreed to meet him and Mickey says he’ll drive her, not wanting her to meet some strange man on her own.

The entire drive, Mickey is trying to convince Rose to let him go inside with her and she refuses.

“You’re not coming in.” Rose tells Mickey again as he pulls his VW Beetle onto Clive’s street. He parks the beetle across from Clive’s home. “He’s safe.” They unbuckle their seatbelts as Rose continues, hoping to assuage some of his paranoia.  Mickey turned off the engine and turned to face her. “He’s got a wife and kids.”

“Yeah, who told you that?” Mickey asked her, before replying to his own question. “He did.” He pointed out Rose’s window towards the man’s home. “That’s exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say!”

Rose just looked at him and shook her head as she got out of the car, shutting the door and knocking on the window before crossing the road. One of Clive’s neighbors put out his black bin and gave Mickey a nasty look, receiving one back. Rose knocked on Clive’s door and a young boy opened it.

“Hello.” Rose said to him with a gentle smile. “I’ve come to see Clive? We’ve been… emailing.”

The boy looked at her for a moment before calling out into the house.

“Dad! It’s one of your” the boy looked Rose up and down before finishing, “nutters!”

A middle-aged, slightly overweight, dark haired man came to the door as his son went back to what he was doing.

“Hello. You must be Rose.” The man said smiling at her as he put his hand out for them to shake. “I’m Clive, obviously.”

“I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me.” Rose said with a smile at the goofy older man, pointing towards Mickey watching them from across the road.

“No, good point.” Clive chuckled. “No murders.”

Clive waved at Mickey as the younger man lowered his window.

“Who is it?” a woman called from upstairs.

“Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor.” Clive replied back. “She's been reading the website.” He turned back to Rose and said, “Please, come through. I'm in the shed.”

He let her into and through the house to the shed.

“She? She’s read the website about the Doctor? She’s a she?” Clive’s wife asked as she came down the stairs with a basket of laundry in her arms and closed the door.

“A lot of this stuff’s quite sensitive.” Clive explained as he led her into the shed and turned the lights on. “I couldn’t just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean.” Rose nodded as he pulled out a thick file. “If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor and Professor crop up all over the place… political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories.” He put the file on the table in front of Rose and opened it as he continued, “No first names, no last names, just ‘the Doctor’ and the 'Professor' – always ‘the Doctor’ and 'the Professor'. And the titles seem to be passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter – appears to be an inheritance of some sort. That’s your Doctor and Professor there, isn’t it?” He pointed to his open webpage on his laptop.

Rose looked at the web page and nodded.

“I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original,” he took out a plastic film and removed a few photographs, showing them to Rose. He pointed to the image of President Kennedy’s cortege going through Dallas, where the Doctor and the Professor’s faces, circled in red ink, were just two faces in the crowd. “November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?”

“It must be their parents.” Rose breathed, the resemblance was absolutely uncanny.

“Going further back…” Clive continued, putting the photographs down and getting another photograph and a sketchbook. “April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friends.” He showed her a black and white photo of a family of six with the Doctor and Serayah, dressed in that period’s clothing, standing next to them. “This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. Here we are…1883. Another Doctor and Professor.” He grabbed a sketch and showed her the couple standing on a beach dressed in clothing from the 19th Century. “And look, the same lineages. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded.” Rose and Clive looked at each. “The Doctor and the Professor are a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, they’re there. They bring the storm in their wake and they have one constant companion.”

“Who’s that?” Rose asked, looking at the older man.

“Death.” Clive paused for a moment before carrying on very seriously. “If the Doctor and the Professor are back, if you've seen them, Rose, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger.” He walked around the table and put the file back in its place. “If they’ve singled you out, if the Doctor and the Professor are making house calls, then God help you.”

“But who are they?” Rose asked. “Who do you think they are?”

“I think they’re the same couple. I think they’re immortal. I think they’re aliens from another world.”

Rose nodded and Clive saw her out of his home with a smile as she thanked him for his time.

“All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win.” Rose said as she walked back to the car where Mickey was sitting in the driver’s seat. She opened the car door and got in. “What are we going to do tonight?” she asked as she closed the door and settled in to the seat. “I fancy a pizza.”

Rose didn’t notice that her boyfriend had been replaced with a plastic version while she had been with Clive.

“Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!” Mickey said.

“Or a Chinese.” Rose added another option.

“Pizza!” Mickey said as he started the car and drove off in a clear weave pattern as if it was his first time driving.

At the pizza restaurant, Rose and Mickey placed their order and were waiting for it to arrive. She still hadn’t noticed that Mickey was made of plastic, had shiny skin and had a permanent grin attached to his face.

“Do you think I should try the hospital?” Rose asked, wanting to get his opinion on where she should try to find another job, because her mother was right. She needed a job. “Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it, then - dishing out chips? I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up.” She looked at Mickey and asked with a smile, “What do you think?”

“So, where did you meet the Doctor and Professor?” the Plastic-Mickey asked instead.

“Oh, I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?” Rose asked, her smile fading and irritated that Mickey was changing the topic to something she didn’t want to talk about.

“Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?”

“No.” Rose replied quietly, fidgeting with the table’s center piece.

“Come on.” Plastic-Mickey probed, his grin becoming a smile that was meant to encourage her.

“Sort of.” Rose amended.

“What were they doing there?”

“I’m not going on about it, Mickey.” She brushed a lock of her hair aside. “Really, I’m not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous.”

“But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe,” his voice went deeper “sugar, babe, sugar.” He gave her a smile. “You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart.”

“What are you doing that for?” Rose asked, referring to the repeats of pet-names.

A waiter came up to their table and presented a bottle to Plastic-Mickey.

“Your champagne.”

“We didn’t order any champagne.” Plastic-Mickey replied, not looking away from Rose. “Where are the Doctor and the Professor?” he put his hand on Rose’s and squeezed firmly.

The waiter walked around the table and presented the bottle to Rose.

“Madam, your champagne.”

“It’s not ours.” Rose said absently as she leaned in towards her boyfriend. “Mickey what is it? What’s wrong?”

“I need to find out how much they know, so where are they?”

“Doesn’t anybody want either of this champagne?” the waiter asked.

“Look, we didn't order it.” Plastic-Mickey said, finally looking up at the waitress and waiter, only to see that it was in fact the Doctor, the Professor nowhere in sight.

“Ah. Gotcha.” Plastic-Mickey said, making Rose look at the two as well while the Doctor was vigorously shaking the bottle.

“Don’t mind me.” The Doctor told the two of them, still shaking the bottle. “I’m just toasting the happy couple.” He aimed the bottle at Plastic-Mickey. “On the house!” he called out as he released the cage around the cork and sent it flying straight at a wide-eyed Plastic-Mickey.

The cork flew into Plastic-Mickey’s forehead, with Rose staring in shock as she realized that the man she was with was not her boyfriend.

The plastic man’s face distorted for a few moments before it spit the cork out through his mouth, as a shocked Rose watched with wide eyes.

“Anyway.” Plastic-Mickey said, standing up and turning his hand into a chopper. Rose stood up and ran to the side, screaming as the plastic man smashed their table, drawing the attention of the other patrons.

The Doctor put his arms around the Auton’s head and tugged it off, the momentum sending him and the head flying into another table.

“Don’t think that’s gonna stop me.” The head said to the Doctor, making the couple sitting at the table scream in fright as the Doctor chuckled lightly in amusement.

Taking in the screaming and terrified restaurant patrons, Rose pressed the fire alarm, and as the alarm rang through the building, yelled for everyone to get out. She ran herself, followed by the Doctor carrying the plastic head as the body continued to smash and flail its way around the dining area. The Doctor and Rose ran through the kitchens, yelling for the staff to get out as well as the plastic body followed the pair through the kitchen and down the corridor leading to the back exit.

Rose and the Doctor had just gotten out and closed the door when their pursuer caught up to them and banged on the closed door as the Doctor took out his screwdriver and sealed the exit shut. Rose ran down the alley, passing the blue box, to the end where the gate is secured by a padlock.

She tugged at the padlock as she called back to the Doctor, “Open the Gate! Use that tube thing. Go on.”

“Sonic screwdriver.” The Doctor corrected calmly, putting it back in his pocket as he calmly walked towards the blue box.

“Use it!”

“Nah. Tell you what, let’s go in here.” He walked up to the blue box, taking a key out of his pocket and unlocking the door, he stepped through.

The Auton was still banging on the metal door, making large dents as Rose ran to the box, standing in front of the door the Doctor entered through.

“You can’t hide inside a wooden box!” she cried out in alarm.

Hearing the banging continue, she looked back at the metal door and saw that the dents were getting deeper with each hit, and it wouldn’t be long before the body got through. She ran to the gate and started tugging at the lock again in a futile attempt to get out. Not getting anywhere with the lock, she ran back to the box, and hurried inside, slamming the door shut behind her before coming to a stop as she took in the sight.

She ran back outside, and searched around the box, seeing it much smaller than it was on the inside. Seeing the tears now being formed on the metal door, she ran back inside and up to the consol.

“It’s gonna follow us!” she gasped.

“The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn’t get through that door.” The Doctor said cheerfully as he examined the plastic head with his screw driver.

Serayah was toweling her hair, clearly in a different outfit than before, and leaning against one of the coral pillars.

“Believe me, they’ve tried.” She added, removing the towel from her head and letting her long hair fall in damp curled waves down her back and to her knees. She was wearing a classy ivory lace cap-sleeved, patterned V-neck dress that came to her knees with a silver flower pendant and earrings and matching 5” platform heels (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/434527064019857433/>). As Rose took in the magnificent site of the TARDIS, Serayah turned to her husband, “So you were able to find something that could help?”

“Yeah. Give me a minute.” He connected a few cables to the head as Serayah went to join him, leaving the towel on the coral to dry. “The arm was too simple, but the head is perfect.”

“We can use it to trace the original signal back to the original source.” Serayah said with a smile, receiving a brilliant one in response.

The couple turned to the shocked young woman.

“Right. Where do you want to start?” the Doctor asked Rose, as she looked around the console room.

“Um, the inside’s bigger than the outside.” Rose said weakly.

“Yes.” The Doctor replied.

“It’s alien.” Rose looked at them.

“Yep.”

“Are you two alien?”

“Yes.” Serayah said softly, pulling her hair over her shoulder and running her fingers through the damp locks.

“That alright?” The Doctor asked Rose.

“Yeah.” Rose nodded weakly.

“IT’s called the TARDIS, this thing.” The Doctor told her. “T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.”

Rose burst into tears in response, completely overwhelmed and scared that Mickey might be dead.

“That’s okay. Culture shock.” The Doctor said, as Serayah shook her head at her husband’s cluelessness. “Happens to the best of us.”

“That’s not what it is.” Serayah told him, walking over to the crying girl and putting her arms around the taller woman. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’ll be okay.” She crooned softly.

It took a few minutes, but soon Rose was calm enough to talk again.

“Did they kill him? Mickey?” Rose asked tearfully, afraid of what the answer might be. “Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?”

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.” The Doctor said softly, frowning.

“He’s my boyfriend.” Rose retorted to the man, before Serayah could give a proper response to the girl. “You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?”

“Melt?” The Doctor repeated as he turned to console were the head was indeed melting, still attached to the cables.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no!” the Doctor exclaimed, as he and Serayah ran around the console, setting the TARDIS into motion with its typical grinding noise.

“What are you doing?” Rose demanded to know.

“Following the signal. It’s fading.” The Doctor said, running around the console and hitting a button as Serayah pressed a lever. He looked at the screen. “No, no, no, no, no!” he pressed a button and looked back at the screen.

“What is it?” Serayah asked, standing on the other side of the console and not able to see the readings.

“Almost there. Almost there.” The Doctor said as he and Serayah grabbed hold of the console as they felt the shift as the TARDIS moved locations. “Here we go!”

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor and Serayah ran for the door, Serayah pausing just long enough to get her purse from one of the pillars and sling it across her chest.

“You can’t go out there!” Rose cried out, not realizing that they had moved. “It’s not safe!” with a deep breath, she ran to the door and looked out, only to see that they weren’t in the alley behind the restaurant any longer but rather in Westminster on the north bank of the Thames, next to the RAF monument.

“I lost the signal.” The Doctor growled frustrated. “I got so close!”

“We’ll find it again.” Serayah said soothingly as she perched on the bridge side, as the Doctor paced.

Rose left the TARDIS, a look of surprise on her face as the Doctor stopped next to Serayah and rested his hands on the bridge wall beside his wife’s perch.

“We’ve moved.” Rose commented, looking back at the unassuming box momentarily before turning back to face the two aliens. “Does it fly?”

“Disappears there and reappears here.” The Doctor replied. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“But if we’re somewhere else, what about that headless thing?” Rose asked. “It’s still on the loose.”

“It melted with the head.” Serayah said, running her fingers through her hair and deftly pulling the thick locks into a thick braid that she then let hang down her back.

“Are you gonna witter on all night?” The Doctor snapped, still frustrated, as he pushed off the wall and stalked back towards the TARDIS.

“I’ll have to tell his mother.” Rose said softly, making the couple look at her in confusion. “Mickey.” Rose explained, mostly to the Doctor who had been the one in the restaurant. “I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien.”

Serayah opened her mouth to speak, but the Doctor beat her to it.

“Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-” he began.

“He’s not a kid.” Rose interrupted.

“It's because my wife and I trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?” he continued on as if he wasn’t interrupted, no close to yelling.

“All right!” Rose yelled back.

“Yes, it is!” he crossed his arms.

“If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?” Rose asked him.

“Lots of planets have a North.” The Doctor replied defensively.

“And you,” Rose asked, turning to the beautiful woman still perched on the bridge. “How comes you sound Welsh?”

“It’s accent adaptation.” Serayah replied in an accent similar to Rose’s, making the younger girls’ eyes widen.

“And what’s a public police call box?” Rose asked, frowning as she read the wording at the top of the TARDIS.

“It’s a telephone box from the 1950’s.” The Doctor explained, his demeanor going from defensive to happy as he uncrossed his arms and put one hand on the TARDIS’ panel. “IT’s a disguise.”

Rose gave a disbelieving chuckle. “Okay.” She turned serious. “And this living plastic, what’s it got against us?”

“Nothing.” Serayah chirped, once again in a Welsh accent as she hopped off the wall and coming to stand next to the TARDIS as she continued speaking. “It loves you. You have got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs.”

“Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!” The Doctor added, putting his arm around his wife’s shoulders as she leaned against him.

“Anyway of stopping it?” Rose asked.

The Doctor pulled a vial of blue liquid out of his pocket with his freed hand and held it up.

“Anti-plastic.” He said gleefully.

“Anti-plastic?” Rose repeated in disbelief.

“Anti-plastic.” Serayah confirmed with a smile as she took in the look on Rose’s face.

“But first we’ve got to find it.” The Doctor said, losing his gleeful look as he let go of Serayah and began pacing. “But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?”

“Hold on. Hide what?” Rose asked confused.

“The transmitter.” The Doctor stopped pacing and looked at the two women as Serayah replied to the human’s question. “The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal.”

“What’s it look like?” Rose asked, looking between the two of them.

“Like a transmitter.” The Doctor said, taking over the explanation. “Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London.” He walked to the other side of the bridge, and turned to look at the two women following him as he continued. “A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible.” Rose and Serayah looked at the London Eye looming behind the oblivious man. The two women exchanged looks as the Doctor, seeing the looks, asked, “What?” they gestured to the structure behind him. He glanced back, but didn’t see what they meant. “What?” They gesture again, but he still doesn’t get it. “What is it?” Finally Serayah rolled her eyes and pointed at the Eye, making him turn and properly look at what she was pointing to. “Oh.” He looked back at the two women as a large smile spread across their faces. “Fantastic.”

He and Serayah began running hand-in-hand, and with a shout of ‘Are you coming?’ from Serayah, Rose followed as well. They ran across the Westminster Bridge, the Doctor taking Rose’s hand with his free one, and down the stairs, coming to a stop right in front of the large landmark.

“Think of it – plastic all over the world.” The Doctor told Rose letting go of her hand as she caught her breath. “Every artificial thing waiting to come alive.”

“The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables.” Serayah added as examples as they looked around.

“Breast implants.” Rose added, getting a nod from the alien woman.

“Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath.” The Doctor said, looking around.

Rose looked over the side of the bridge to the maintenance shaft.

“What about down here?” She asked, drawing the attention of the other two.

“Looks good to me.” The doctor said, getting a similar vote of agreement from Serayah.

They ran down the stairs to the closed shaft. The Doctor knelt and opened the hatch, letting steam billow out for a moment before he began climbing down the short ladder. Serayah followed next with Rose bringing up the rear. They glanced around the brick-built area, filled with chains before heading through the only door they could see. Going through, they went down a flight of steps, into a multi-level chamber.

On the lower-most level, there was a large vat with a glowing fire-orange substance moving around inside.

“The Nestene Consciousness.” The Doctor sad to Rose as they came to a stop on the mezzanine and looked down. “That’s it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature.”

“Well, then.” Rose said. “Tip in your anti-plastic and let’s go.”

“We’re not here to kill it.” Serayah told her gently. “We’ve got to give it a chance.”

The three of them went down another short flight of stairs and came to a stop on the mezzanine directly in sight of the vat. The two aliens stood against the railing as Rose stood back and out of sight.

“We seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation.”

Inside the vat, the plastic flexes with a growling sound in response.

“Thank you.” The Doctor smiled slightly. “If we might have permission to approach?”

Rose looked around and saw Mickey huddled up in a corner as the plastic flexes once again with a growl.

“Oh, God!” Rose exclaimed, running down the steps to Mickey as the Doctor shook his head in exasperation, receiving a poke from Serayah. “Mickey, it’s me.” Rose cried out, rushing towards the bound young man. “It’s okay.” She reached him as Mickey put a finger to his lips to get her to not make noise.

“That thing down there, the liquid.” Mickey whimpered, clutching the woman’s arm in fear. “Rose, it can talk!”

“Oh, you’re stinking.” Rose gasped, turning to the Doctor and Serayah. “Doctor, Serayah, they kept him alive!”

“Yeah, that was always a possibility.” The Doctor said offhandedly, turning the corner of another flight of stairs, pausing at the top stair as he continued, “keep him alive to maintain the copy.”

“You knew and you never said?” Rose asked angrily as Serayah stopped behind the Doctor, who began going down.

 “I was going to tell you, but you started yelling at him, so…” Serayah trailed off as followed the Doctor down the stairs.

The couple came to a stop directly above the vat.

“Are we addressing the Consciousness?” there was a growl as a large blob reached out from the vat. “Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp-shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

The Doctor smirked as the Consciousness growled and a face formed in the blob.

“Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple.”

At the continued growling, Serayah snapped, “Don’t talk about constitutional rights.”

There was a series of loud growls as the plastic blob got bigger and moved from side to side.

“Oi! I am talking!" The Doctor yelled back as the Consciousness stopped growling. “This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go.”

Several shop mannequins came up behind the pair, unseen by them as the Doctor pleaded on Earth’s behalf.

“Doctor! Professor!” Rose called in warning, making the two look up at her, but it was too late as the Autons’ grabbed hold of them.

The couple struggled, Serayah managing to get off a few kicks to the shins of their captors, but ultimately, the grip on them was too strong. One of the Autons reached into the Doctor’s pocket and removed the vial of anti-plastic and held it up.

“That was just insurance! We weren’t gonna use it.” The Doctor cried out in explanation.

“You really should’ve let me keep it.” Serayah muttered to him as the Consciousness growled in response to the Doctor’s explanation.

“We were not attacking you.” The Doctor protested.

“We’re here to help.” Serayah pleaded as they both continued to struggle. “We’re not your enemy. I swear, we’re not.”

 The Consciousness growled and shrieked.

“What do you mean?” Serayah asked as a door opened above them. They turned to look and saw the TARDIS. “No! Honestly, no!”

There was a growl from the vat.

“Yes, that’s our ship.” He admitted.

There was a series of growls and shrieks as the Doctor and Serayah looked between the Consciousness in the vat and the TARDIS.

“That’s not true.” Serayah protested, her voice filled with pain. “We should know. We were there.”

“We fought in the war. It wasn’t our fault.” The Doctor cried, just as pained as his wife.

There was a growl from the Consciousness.

“We couldn’t save your world!” Serayah cried out, tears filling her eyes as she remembered the horror and the pain they had been through. “We couldn’t save any of them!”

The Consciousness let out a roar.

“What’s it doing?” Rose asked loudly, seeing the plastic blob sway from side to side as it continued to roar.

“It’s the TARDIS!” The Doctor yelled back desperately in explanation. “The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!”

As the Consciousness continued to roar, Rose took out her phone and dialed.

“Mum?” Rose called into the phone when the line connected.

_“Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me.”_ Jackie said on the other end, unaware of the danger her daughter was in.

“Where are you, mum?” Rose asked desperately

_“I'm in town.”_

“No, go home!” Rose ordered. “Just go home right now!”

_“Darling, you're breaking up. Listen, I'm just going to do a bit of late night shopping. I'll see you later. Ta-ra!”_

“Mum? Mum!” Rose called, but didn’t get a reply as Jackie had hung up.

The roaring Consciousness sent energy bolts flying around, one hitting the ceiling, causing a small explosion.

“It’s the activation signal. It’s transmitting!” The Doctor cried out in despair, as he and Serayah still struggled against their captors, Serayah managing to get a few more kicks into them before several more came and helped the trio subdue her.

“It’s the end of the world.” Rose breathed, terror in every syllable as Mickey let out a frightened whimper.

The Consciousness let out a roar, getting increasingly agitated.

“Get out, Rose!” Serayah yelled to the blonde, struggling against the increased number of her captors. “Get Mickey and just get out! Run!”

“The stairs have gone!” Rose yelled back in terror, even as adrenaline pumped through her.

Rose and Mickey ran to the TARDIS as the Autons tried to push Serayah and the Doctor into the vat.

“We haven’t got the key!” Rose moaned as she banged on the TARDIS door.

“We’re going to die!” Mickey whimpered, clutching Rose’s arm. The two humans crouched next to the TARDIS, Mickey visibly terrified as Rose looked around for other possibilities, still holding a trembling Mickey close.

The Doctor and Serayah struggled against the Autons that were trying to toss them in to the vat filled with the roaring plastic.

“Time Lord!” The Nestene growled in a low roar. “Guardian Confessor!”

The Doctor and Serayah struggled as Rose slowly stood up, Mickey now clinging to her leg.

“Just leave them!” Mickey cried to her. Rose ignored him and looked at the struggling couple, who looked back at her. “There’s nothing you can do!” Mickey cried out as Rose ran around the chamber.

“I’ve got no A-levels. No job. No future.” She growled, lifting an axe and swinging it at a rope that was holding a very long chain to the wall. “But I tell you what I _have_ got.” When the chain got lose, she took a firm hold of it, wrapping it around her arm to increase her hold. “Jericho Street Junior School Under-7s Gymnastics Team. I’ve got the bronze.”

With a grunt, she ran off the ledge and swung across the vat. The Doctor and Serayah shifted slightly so that Rose would swing by the Autons, making them loosen their grip just enough for the couple to get loose. The Doctor tossed the one holding him over his shoulder directly into the vat as Serayah gave her captors a roundhouse kick, sending them flying into the vat as well. Rose swung alongside the cat-walk and kicked the two remaining Autons, one holding the vial, into the vat. As soon as the vial hits the golden Nestene, it screams as it turns blue.

Rose swung back, and the Doctor caught her before letting her go and looking at the screaming Nestene.

“Now were in trouble!” Serayah commented as the three of them ran up towards the TARDIS as a series of explosions rocked the ceiling as the signal stopped transmitting.

Mickey was still crouched next to the TARDIS, holding onto it for dear life as the Doctor took out his key and opened the door. Mickey scrambled in, followed by the Doctor, Serayah and Rose. As more explosions rocked the chamber, the Doctor and Serayah piloted the TARDIS and her two human passengers to an Embankment by a row of shuttered kiosks.

As soon as they land, Mickey ran out, terrified and crouched behind a pallet as if attempting to hide behind it. Walking our behind Mickey, Rose took out her phone and dialed her mother.

_“Rose! Rose, don’t go out of the house! It’s not safe!”_ Jackie faintly breathed into the phone as soon as she answered, causing Rose to hold back a laugh. _“There were these things, and they were shooting! And they…-”_

Rose ended the call and went to Mickey, who looked like he might pass out from shock at any minute.

“Fat lot of good you were!” Rose told him as he whimpered in response, pointing towards the TARDIS and unable to for a coherent word.

Rose looked to the TARDIS were the Doctor was leaning against the doorway and Serayah was ensconced in his arms, having just broken apart from a deep kiss.

“Nestene Consciousness? Easy!” The Doctor said, snapping his fingers as Serayah let out a small laugh.

“You were useless in there. You both’d be dead if it wasn’t for me.” Rose reminded him.

“Yes, we would.” The Doctor agreed, tightening his grip on Serayah. “Thank you.”

“Thank you.” Serayah said as well in a gentle voice, her face being lit with a smile as she looked at the brave human that saved them.

“Right, then, we’ll be off…” The Doctor said as they separated and turned to head inside. “Unless… I don’t know…” he shrugged awkwardly as Serayah bit back a giggle. “You could come with me.” The two of them looked at Rose, who looked back at them silently. “This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge.”

“Don’t.” Mickey pleaded with her, seeing the excitement in Rose’s eyes as well as the smile on her face as she listened to the Doctor’s words. “They’re aliens. They’re things!”

“He’s _not_ invited.” The Doctor added, nodding his head to a trembling Mickey before looking at her. “What do you think?” Rose let out a breath as the Doctor continued. “You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere.”

“Is it always this dangerous?” Rose asked finally.

“Yes.” Serayah said seriously, as the Doctor nodded excitedly.

Mickey scrambled to his knees and hugged Rose’s waist, looking back at the travelling couple.

“Yeah, I can’t.” Rose declined, shaking her head as she put her hand on Mickey’s back. “I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so…” Rose let out a chuckle.

“Okay, see you around.” The Doctor said understandingly as him and Serayah enter the TARDIS and it dematerialized a second later.

Rose turned to Mickey and helped the shell-shocked man to his feet.

“Come on, let’s go. Come on.” Rose said softly as they began walking towards the main road, Rose supporting Mickey.

Hearing the TARDIS engines, Rose whipped around, Mickey following suit at a slower pace. The watched as the TARDIS rematerialized in front of them.

The Doctor poked his head out and said, “By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?” he smiled at her and pulled his head back in.

 “Thanks.” Rose said, turning to Mickey with a smile on her face.

“Thanks for what?” he asked in confusion.

“Exactly.” Rose said with a smile, kissing his cheek and running towards the TARDIS’ open doors as Mickey looked on in surprise.


	3. The End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Serayah take Rose to the year of five billion, where they land on a space station named Platform One, which is orbiting the Earth and observing its destruction by the expanding Sun. Among the elite alien guests assembled to watch the phenomenon is Lady Cassandra, who takes pride in being the last pure human, though she has received many operations that have altered her image. It is discovered that Cassandra, to receive money for her many operations, plans to let the guests die and then profit from the stock increases of their competitors. She releases discreet robotic spiders all over Platform One, and they start interfering with the systems. She departs via teleportation and the spiders bring down the shields, causing harmful direct solar radiation to penetrate the station. The Doctor and Serayah manage to reactivate the system and save Rose, after which they bring Cassandra back and she ruptures from the intense solar heat.

**Season 1 Episode 2 - The End of the World**

Rose ran into the TARDIS, and came to a stop at the console.

“Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell us, where d’you want to go?” The Doctor began, leaning nonchalantly against the console and tossing a small orb in his hand and watching Rose. “Backwards or forwards in time?”

“It’s your choice.” Serayah said from where she was perched on one of the coral pillars and watched the human’s expressions. “What’s it going to be?”

Rose shrugged and said, “Forwards.”

The Doctor put the orb on the console, pressed a button and switched a flip before turning to the girl.

“How far?” he asked.

“100 years.” Rose suggested, picking a random number.

The Doctor turned a few controls as the TARDIS began its journey through the Vortex, with the Doctor and Rose clutching the console and Serayah gripping the pillar she was sitting on. A few seconds later, the TARDIS stopped and the released their grips on their supports.

“There you go.” The Doctor said, pointing towards the doors. “Step outside those doors, it’s the 22nd century.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“That’s a bit boring though.” Serayah commented, jumping down from the pillar and coming to stand next to the Doctor. Rose absently noticed that her hair was open once again and falling down her back in lose wavy curls in a layered 'V' cut.

“True.” The Doctor said, looking at his wife before turning to Rose, “Do you want to go further?”

“Fine by me.” Rose replied excitedly with a grin.

The Doctor fiddled with the controls once more, and once again they all held on as the ship traveled through the Vortex. Rose had a wide smile on her face as she watched the green lit time rotor above the console as the Doctor and Serayah exchanged smiles.

The TARDIS came to a stop and the Doctor looked at Rose.

“10 000 years in the future.” He said. “Step outside, it’s the year 12005, the new Roman Empire.”

“You think you’re so impressive.” Rose said with a teasing smile.

“I am so impressive!” The Doctor said defensively, though he had a smile on his face.

“You wish.” Serayah said, nudging him with her hip and getting a poke in response, making her squeal from the ticklish sensation.

“Right then, you two asked for it.” The Doctor said with a large smile on his face. “I know exactly where to go.” He turned to the console and started the engines again, pressing buttons and levers, as Rose and Serayah watched with large smiles on their faces, the human with excitement and the alien with fondness. “Hold on!”

They held tight as the TARDIS flew through the Vortex, taking them to their plotted destination. The Doctor was still working with the controls, a large grin on his face. Finally, the Doctor shut the engines off as they felt the TARDIS land.

“Where are we?” Rose asked cautiously.

“ _Annwyl?”_ Serayah asked, only for the Doctor to gesture to the door with one arm and pull Serayah close with the other.

“What’s out there?” Rose asked excitedly, glancing back at the door for a moment before turning back to the couple.

When the Doctor didn’t reply, and it was obvious that Serayah didn’t know, she slowly walked out of the TARDIS and entered a large, futuristic style room made of a material similar to marble. The young woman went down the set of steps that were there leading to a large wall that was covered by shutters. The Doctor and Serayah came out a moment later, Serayah walking down the steps with Rose as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on a panel behind them, lowering the large shutters, revealing a window with a view of the Earth in all its glory. The Doctor joined the two women, coming tow stand between them and putting his arm around Serayah.

“You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying… like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/ Apple/ 26. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day” he looks at his watch with a frown “Hold on.” He looks out the window, the two women following his gaze as they see the sun rise behind the Earth, obscuring their sight as it momentarily flares before turning red. “This is the day the Sun expands.” He turns to Rose. “Welcome to the end of the world.”

Rose looked at him in surprise before turning back to look outside the window.

_“Shuttles five and six now docking.”_ Came a computerized as the trio walked along a corridor. _“Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite.”_

“So, when it says ‘guests’, does that mean people?” Rose asked curiously as they turned a corner.

“Depends on what you mean by people.” Serayah replied from the Doctor’s other side, her arm looped through his.

“I mean ‘people’.” Rose said. “What do you mean?”

“Aliens.” The Doctor replied excitedly, as they turned another corner and came across another wall panel.

“What are they doing on board this spaceship?” Rose probed, curiosity driving her to ask as many questions as possible. “What’s it all for?”

“It’s more of an observation deck.” The Doctor replied absently, taking out his screwdriver and scan the panel. “The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn.”

“What for?” Rose asked, taken aback.

“Fun.” Serayah chirped as the Doctor walked off, dragging her as well since she still had her arm looped through his.

Rose watched them go with a look of surprise on her face before hurrying to catch up.

“Mind you, when he says the great and the good, what he means is the rich.” Serayah commented as they entered the observation gallery, a large area with a few display cases as well as a view of Space from a glass window stretching from the ground up and across the ceiling.

“But, hold on.” Rose said, as they walked towards the window. “They did this once on Newsround Extra - the sun expanding. That takes hundreds of years.”

“Millions.” The Doctor corrected her as they came to a stop in front of the window and gazed out to Earth and the sun, the Doctor ensconcing Serayah in his arms. “But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?” He pointed to several object orbiting the sun. “Gravity satellites holding back the sun.”

“The planet looks the same as ever.” Rose said, confusion coloring her voice. “I thought the continents shifted and things.” She looked at the two aliens.

“They did, and the Trust shifted them back.” The Doctor informed her. He pointed to the planet below. “That's a classic Earth.”

“But now the money's run out, nature takes over.” Serayah chirped happily.

“How long’s it got?” Rose asked curiously.

The Doctor looked at his watch before answering, “About half an hour. Then the planet gets roasted.” He looked at Rose with a wide grin, a slightly smaller one mirrored on Serayah’s face.

“Is that why we’re here? I mean, is that what you two do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?” Rose asked with a smile on her face.

“We’re not saving it. Time’s up.” Serayah replied, wiping the smile off Rose’s face.

“But what about the people?” Rose protested.

“It’s empty. They’ve all gone.” The Doctor said, shrugging his shoulders as much as he could with his arms around Serayah. “No one left.”

The pair smiled at her as she sighed.

“Just me, then.” Rose muttered quietly to herself.

“Who the hell are you?” came a voice behind them, causing them to turn around. The man had blue skin and gold slit eyes, wearing long robes made of a stiff fabric.

“Oh, that’s nice. Thanks.” The Doctor said sarcastically as let Serayah go.

“But how did you get in?” The man asked them, coming to a stop in front of them. “This is a maximum Hospitality Zone. The guests have disembarked. They’re on their way any second.”

“That’s us, we’re guests. I’ve got an invitation.” He took out a billfold and flipped it open. “Look.” The man glanced at the paper before looking back at the three of them. “There, you see? It’s fine. The Doctor and the Professor, plus one. I’m the Doctor” he gestured to himself “this is my wife, called the Professor” he gestured to Serayah, who smiled and presented a similar bill-fold “and this is Rose Tyler.” He gestured to Rose, who smiled nervously “She’s our plus one. Is that alright?”

“Well…obviously.” The steward said stiffly, nodding his head slightly. “Apologies, etc.” The Doctor nodded in acceptance. “If you’re on board, we’d better start. Enjoy.”

He turned and walked to a lecturn as the Doctor turned to Rose, holding the bill-fold and revealing the blank paper.

“The paper’s slightly psychic.” He explained as Serayah put hers away into her purse, which was hanging on her shoulder. “It shows them what we want them to see.” He snapped the fold close.

“Saves a lot of time.” Serayah muttered as the Doctor tucked the psychic paper into his pocket as the Steward began speaking.

“He’s blue.” Rose whispered, referring to the Steward.

“Yeah.” The Doctor said with a grin.

“Okay.” Rose nodded, turning to listen to what the Steward was saying.

“We have in attendance, the Doctor, the Professor, and Rose Tyler. Thank you. All staff to their positions.” The man clapped three times and several small blue people, dressed completely in black, scuttling about the room. “Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along.” As soon as they were in their positions, he continued, “And now, might I introduce the next honored guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa.”

Through the doors came a bark-skinned woman, walking in a purposeful stride, followed by two larger male escorts. She was dressed in a floor length red and gold dress while her companions were dressed in black robes, with armored chest and shoulder plates.

“There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace.” The Steward said. “If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon.”

In came another blue being, this one mostly a head and a body, sitting on a transport pod.

“And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.” The Steward said.

A group of black robed bi-peds entered the gallery.

The steward continued with the introductions, the inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen; Cal Spark Plug; Mister and Mrs. Pakoo; The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light.

The trio of Tree People came over to where the Doctor, Serayah and Rose were standing.

“The gift of peace.” Jabe said. “I bring you a cutting of my grandfather.” She held a rooted twig in a small pot out to the Doctor.

“Thank you.” He took the small pot with reverence and handed it to Rose. “Yes. Gifts. Erm…” he patted his front and cleared his throat. “I give you in return…air from my lungs.”

He gently breathed on Jabe, who closed her eyes momentarily before opening them and looking up at the Time Lord.

“How…intimate.” Jabe breathed, running her eyes over him.

“There’s more where that came from.” The Doctor chuckled as Serayah rolled her eyes and face palmed at the flirting.

“I bet there is.” Jabe flirted for a moment before walking away, followed by the two males.

“From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe.” The Steward said, bringing their attention to the doors.

A large cylindrical tank containing an equally large humanoid head with straggly hair and squinting eyes came through the doors.

“The Moxx of Balhoon.” Serayah said with a smile as the blue being floated over to them on his transport pod.

“My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily salivas.” The alien said to them in a high voice, before spitting accurately into Rose’s eye.

The Doctor looked at a disgusted Rose as she cleaned her face before turning back to Moxx.

“Thank you very much.” He said to the smaller alien with a chuckle.

“Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme.” The Doctor exclaimed as the black-robed figures glided up to them. “I bring you air from my lungs.” The Doctor breathed on them.

The figure in the front held out a large metal hand carrying a ball.

“A gift of peace in all good faith.” The figure said as the Doctor took the ball and handed to Rose.

The Steward began speaking, turning everyone’s attention back to him.

“And last, but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms…consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human.” The Doctor and Serayah glanced at Rose who was staring at the Steward in wonder at the possibility of another human. “The Lady Cassandra O'Brien. Delta Seventeen.”

The doors opened and a face, rather a pair of eyes and a mouth, in a piece of thin skin stretched in a rectangular frame was wheeled in by two men dressed in top-to-toe hospital whites.

“Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference.” Rose had a completely shocked look on her face as the Doctor and Serayah held back their chuckles. “Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty.” Her attendants moved to stand on either side of her. “I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me. Moisturize me.” One of the attendants used a pump spray on the skin. “Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say goodbye.” As Cassandra spoke, Rose walked behind her to see just how thin she is. “Oh, no tears, no tears.” At the tears that filled the skin-sheet’s eyes, one of the attendants took out a handkerchief and gently wiped them away. “I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg.” One of the space stations’ little attendants entered the gallery with a large egg in his hands that he held out for the guests to view. There were murmurs through the gathered guests as Cassandra went on to explain the legend behind the ostriches. “Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband?” there was a spattering of chuckles. “Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity.” Two more little attendants wheeled in a jukebox. “According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!” the attendant pressed a button on the jukebox, which everyone believed was an iPod, and the strains of Tainted Love by Soft Cell ring out through the room.

“Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes.” The Steward informs them all and the guests begin mingling with each other.

Rose looks around at all the aliens in the room, mingling with each other and talking, starting to become overwhelmed by all the strangeness. Unable to handle it, she runs out of the room. The Doctor and Serayah, having seen the blonde run out, move to follow her, but are intercepted by Jabe.

“Doctor? Professor?” the two turned to look at Jabe who held up a device which emitted a flash. “Thank you.” She said to them, getting what she wanted.

They nodded to each other as Serayah and the Doctor left the room and went after Rose as Jabe looked at the device in her hands.

The couple were outside Gallery 15 when the Steward’s voice was heard over the intercom.

_“Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery fifteen please report to the Steward_ _’s office immediately? Guests are reminded that use of teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty 5.4/cup/16. Thank you.”_

They changed direction and headed for the Stewards office. Several minutes later, the couple were back outside Gallery 15 and watching the little attendants’ wheel the TARDIS away.

“Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches.” The Doctor called in warning as one of the attendants came over and handed Serayah a ticket before following his colleagues. They looked at it and saw that it said, ‘Have A Nice Day’ on one side. They looked at each other and shrugged before they continued walking in silence, arm-in-arm.

Checking each open room and gallery, they soon came to Gallery 15 and saw Rose sitting on one side of the steps, her legs dangling over the edge.

“Aye, aye. What do you think, then?” the Doctor asked gently as he and Serayah walked into the room and sat on the other side of the steps. The Doctor leaned back as Serayah curled her bare legs elegantly and faced the young human.

“Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper.” Rose said. She sighed and continued, “They're just so… alien.” She looked over at them and elaborated. “The aliens are so alien. You look at 'em and they're alien.”

“Good thing we didn't take you to the Deep South.” The Doctor commented, slightly sarcastic as Serayah bit back a laugh, though a smile spread across her face.

“Where are you two from?” Rose asked them after a moment.

“All over the place.” Serayah replied vaguely.

“They all speak English.” Rose commented in belayed surprise.

“No, you just hear English.” Serayah corrected her as she explained. “It's a gift of the TARDIS. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates.”

“It’s inside _my_ brain?” Rose asked in dismayed shock, taken-aback by the new information.

“Well, in a good way.” The Doctor said.

“Your machine gets inside my head.” Rose said angrily. “It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?”

“I didn't think about it like that.” The Doctor muttered, none of their Companions over the years had reacted to the TARDIS’ translation matrix the way Rose was, so the reaction came as a surprise.

“No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South.” Rose retorted angrily. “Who are you, then, Doctor? Professor? What are you both called? What sort of aliens are you?”

“We’re just the Doctor and the Professor.” The Doctor replied back defensively, his frustration rising.

“From what planet?”

“It’s not as if you would know where they are!” Serayah retorted, her own frustration rising at the line of questions.

“Where are you from?” Rose probed, angry and frustrated.

“What does it matter?!” the Doctor asked angrily, standing up and walking to the window, looking out into space.

“Tell me who you are!”

“This is who we are, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is us.” Serayah said angrily as she joined the Doctor at the window, curling into his arm as they remembered the past.

“Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me.” Rose cried out, looking at their backs.

_“Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes.”_

“All right.” Rose said as she took a deep breath and calmed down, standing up and walking over to the pair. “As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver.” She took her mobile out of her pocket and held it up as she commented, “Can’t exactly call for a taxi. There’s no signal. We’re out of range, just a bit.”

“Tell you what,” the Doctor said, taking the phone from her and pulling the back cover off, “With a little jiggery pokery…”

“Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?” Rose asked with a smile.

“Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?” he replied as he put a small device into the back of the mobile.

“No, I failed hullabaloo.” Rose replied shaking her head as Serayah giggled as she watched the both of them.

“Oh. There you go.” The Doctor said, putting the phone back together and handed it to Rose.

Rose took it gingerly and turned it on, a surprised look crossing her face when she received a signal. She dialed home and spoke with her mother, learning that it was Wednesday and that her mother thought she might be hungover. She also informed her mother that she might be home late.

Rose looked at the both of them, as she held the phone in her hand after ending the call.

“Think that's amazing, wait until you see the bill.” Serayah told her, taking in the amazed and pondering look one her face.

“That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead.” Rose said slowly, processing her thoughts.

“Bundle of laughs, you are.” The Doctor muttered sarcastically.

Before Serayah could say anything to the young human, the space station shook, causing them to stumble slightly.

“That isn’t supposed to happen.” Serayah said as the Doctor nodded in agreement.

“ _Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence. Thanking you._ ” The Stewards’ voice came from the intercom.

Hearing the reassuring words from the Steward, Serayah and the Doctor exchanged looks before running out Gallery 15 and back to the Observation Gallery where the party was being held.

“Indubitably, this is the Bad Wolf scenario. I find the inherent laxity of the on-going multiverse…” Moxx was saying to the Face of Boe as the three of them entered.

“That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that.” The Doctor squeezed Serayah’s hand before looking at the wall panel. They turned slightly as Jabe walked over to them.

“What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines.” Serayah cocked her head to the side, a move mimicked by the Doctor. “They’ve pitched up about 30 Hertz. Is that strange, or what?” Serayah asked the tree-woman.

“It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me.” Jabe replied shrugging slightly, making Serayah and the Doctor smile.

“Where’s the engine room?” The Doctor asked her.

“I don’t know.” Jabe replied before adding, “But the maintenance duct is behind our guest suite. I could show you… and your wives.” She gestured to the two women.

“She’s not our wife.” Serayah and the Doctor said in unison.

“Partner?”

“No.”

“Concubine?”

“No.”

“Prostitute?”

“Whatever I am, it must be invisible! D’you mind?” Rose finally snapped at Jabe.

“Tell you what, you two go and find the engine room.” Serayah said, seeing Rose was gearing up towards a rant. “I’m going to stay here and mingle.” Serayah turned to Rose. “Rose, you want to go with them?”

“No, I’m gonna catch up with the family. Quick word with Michael Jackson.” She gestured to where Cassandra was.

“Don’t start a fight.” The Doctor warned her before offering his arm to Jabe. “I’m all yours, sort of.”

Rose and Serayah watched as Jabe took the offered arm and they walked out of the gallery.

“And I want you home by midnight!” Serayah called out jokingly, making the Doctor look back and wave at her with a smile.

_“Earth death in 15 minutes. Earth death in 15 minutes.”_ The computer informed the guests.

Serayah laughed lightly as her and Rose split up, Serayah going to where the Face of Boe was, his conversation with Moxx over, while keeping an eye on Rose, who had gone to Cassandra, just like she said.

Serayah nodded to him in respect as he looked at her.

“Amethyst.” Came a voice in her mind, making her eyes widen as she looked at the Face of Boe, who was watching her with large squinting eyes.

“Why did you call me that?” she asked with a frown.

“Your eyes, my Amethyst.” Came the simple and vague response, making Serayah nod, though still confused.

They fell silent for a while, as Serayah watched Rose with Cassandra and the rising irritation the young human felt for the stretched skin.

“How many operations has Cassandra had?” Serayah asked finally, turning to the Face.

“708.” Came the amused telepathic response from the large being. “And next week it is supposed to be 709.”

“No kidding.” Serayah muttered disbelievingly. How a person can go through 700 cosmetic operations and still live to tell about it is something even beyond her vast ability to understand.

Serayah heard laughter echoing through her mind. She looked at the Face, his large squinting eyes looking directly at her.

“What has got you laughing?” Serayah asked him, amusement in her voice.

“Your Companion’s words.”

Serayah frowned as she turned to look at Rose, who was passionately ranting at Cassandra, her cheeks flushed with exertion.

“What is Rose saying?”

“Among other things, she is commenting that any part of Cassandra that was human had been chucked in the bin from her many operations. As well as calling Cassandra ‘a bitchy trampoline’.”

Serayah let out a peal of laughter at their words, the Face’s own laughter echoing through her mind. Her laughter slowing, Serayah saw Rose storm out of the corner of her eye.

“I’ll be back.” Serayah said to them. “I’m going to see if my Companion is alright. This is her first trip after all.” She received a nod of understanding and, with a final nod of respect towards the Face of Boe, she hurried after the blonde.

Serayah had just caught up with Rose at corner when she felt a great wave of sorrow and despair wash over her, echoing through the mating bond between her and the Doctor. She gasped, swaying slightly as Rose steadied her and held her arm in worry.

“What is it? Are you okay?” Rose asked frantically, helping the smaller woman lean against the wall as she caught her breath.

“Yes.” Serayah replied weakly. “My husband just experienced extreme sorrow and despair, strong enough for it to echo through to me across our bond.”

“Bond?”

“The mating bond.” Serayah replied, standing straight now that the sorrow was no longer overwhelming her. “For most races in the Universe, marriage is more than just a joining of people, it is a deep bond formed between them.”

“But Jabe thought we were both the Doctor’s wives, and then thought I was…” Rose trailed off, a confused look on her face.

Serayah chuckled weakly.

“Marriage is indeed sacred and a deep bond, but that doesn’t mean that couples don’t take others to their beds if they so wished, so long as all are in conscious agreement and all parties are aware of the consequence of trying to sever a mating bond. And to many races, marriage can be between more than two individuals.”

“What are the consequences?” Rose asked, her frustration at Cassandra, as well as her feelings of being overwhelmed, taking a backseat as she learned something fascinating.

The two women slowly began walking down the corridors.

“It varies depending on the race, but even the most lenient and benevolent races consider it to be the highest form of crime.” Serayah began. “Some races, particularly those that are very group and family-oriented would exile the one trying to sever the bond, as being away from all that you know and love is the highest form of punishment they have. The exile would ultimately cause them to lose their minds to insanity. Other races would send them to prison planets that house the worst criminals in the Universe, never to be released, and all inmates and personnel would be aware of what that being had tried to do, so punishment would be given by the worst of the Universe.”

“Oh, wow.” Rose breathed softly, taking in everything she had just been told as they were approached by the Adherents of the Repeated Meme from the other end of the corridor.

The two women smiled at them, turning to the side to let the robed figures pass, only for them to stop and face them. Before either woman could do anything, the figure at the front pistol whipped the two women with a concealed weapon, knocking them both out. They dragged the two unconscious women down the corridor and out of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serayah groaned as she heard the strains of ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears echoing through her pounding head. Her groan was echoed by Rose, as the two women slowly sat up and rubbed their heads.

“What happened?” Rose asked softly, her head pounding from the blow as she looked around to see that they were in Gallery 15.

“I’m not s-” Serayah started only to be interrupted by a mechanical voice.

_“Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.”_

With wide eyes, they ran up the stairs to the door and began banging on it as a deadly glare began filling the room. The filter, which kept the Sun from roasting everyone on the station, began descending, sending smoke out into the corridor.

“Let us out! Let us out!” Rose screamed, banging on the door next to Serayah.

_“Sun filter descending.”_

“Let us out!” Serayah screamed. “Let us out!”

“Anyone in there?” came the Doctor’s voice from the other side of the door.

“Open the door!” Rose screamed in terror.

“Oh, well it would be you.” The Doctor muttered sarcastically, just loud enough for the women to hear him.

“Let us out!” Serayah screamed at him through the door.

“Ayah?!” he called in surprise as he fiddled with the panel. “Just hold on. Give us two ticks.”

_“Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.”_

Rose bent her knees as the scorching rays reached directly above her head, Serayah following suit.

_“Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.”_

They all gave sighs of relief as the filter began rising, revealing a burnt border running around the room in evidence of the filter’s descent.

_“Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.”_

Rose and Serayah stood up properly, exchanging smiles as they waited for the door to be opened.

_“Sun filter descending.”_

The filter had only rose a few inches above Rose’s head when it began descending once more. Rose and Serayah screamed as they crouched once again.

“Eta, what happened?” Serayah screamed through the door.

“The computer’s getting clever.” He yelled back loudly, changing the settings on the screwdriver and fiddling with the panel. “Just what we need.”

“Stop mucking about!” Rose yelled in terror, banging on the door.

“I’m not mucking about. It’s fighting back.” The Doctor replied.

Rose and Serayah glanced behind them as the filter descended, fear and terror pouring off them in waves.

“Eta, open the door!” Serayah screamed, tears of terror filling her eyes as she thought of the possibility of never seeing him or their loved ones again.

“I know!” he called desperately, his thoughts running in the same direction as his wife. They had both already lost their planets and all their people, the only ones left were their kids, their Companions and the Morningstar family.

As the filter lowered, it soon became impossible for them to stay where they were as the rays began moving down the door. They scrambled down the stairs and lay flat on their fronts to avoid the deadly rays.

“The lock’s melted!” Rose yelled as she grasped Serayah’s hand for comfort, what little the woman could give.

_“Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending.”_

Rose closed her eyes as the rays reached directly above their supine positions flat on the ground.

_“Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising.”_

As the sun filter began rising, the two women ran up the stairs and back to the door.

“The whole thing’s jammed. I can’t open the doors.” The Doctor told them, anticipating their questions.

“Stand back.” Serayah ordered, not only to Rose but the Doctor as well, who realized what she was about to do.

Rose did as ordered, confused as she watched Serayah step back and form a ball of fire in her hands. Once the ball had become roughly the size of both her tiny hands together, she threw it at the doors, blowing them off their hinges.

“Why didn’t you do that earlier?” Rose demanded to know, pushing her shock aside for the moment to give way for frustration.

“And let everyone outside get roasted with us?” Serayah asked back, her happy nature back now that they were not in danger of immediately dying.

The Doctor, relieved that Serayah was alive, pulled her into a tight hug before Rose could respond. Serayah hugged him back just as tightly as she was lifted off her feet by the larger man. He pulled back slightly before leaning down and kissing her deeply.

Pulling back and separating, the Doctor pulled Rose into a brief hug, relieved that she was alright, if a little irritated at Serayah for not blowing the door earlier even if there was a very good reason why.

As they walked out of the burnt gallery, they heard the computer announce, _“Earth death in five minutes.”_

“ _That_ is not helping.” Serayah muttered, after the Doctor gave a brief overview of what he and Jabe had discovered.

The three of them were walking beside each other, the married couple with their arms looped as Rose held onto the Doctor’s other hand. Serayah’s comment got nods of agreement from the other two. They entered the observation gallery just as Jabe was talking.

“The metal machine confirms it.” She was saying, looking at her scanning device in one hand and holding a metal spider in the other. “The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One.”

Her announcement was met with mutterings by the other guests.

“How's that possible?” Cassandra asked. “Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me.”

One of her attendant’s pump sprayed her with moisturizer as the Doctor, an unhappy look on his face, took the metal spider from Jabe. Serayah and Rose stood back near the Face of Boe, watching.

“Summon the Steward.” Moxx called in his high-pitched voice.

“I’m afraid the Steward is dead.” Jabe informed them.

Her news was met with several gasps and mutterings as everyone processed what they had just been told.

“Who killed him?” Moxx asked, his question breaking through the mummers.

“This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe.” Cassandra said. “He invited us.” The large head shook in denial. “Talk to the Face! Talk to the Face!”

“There’s an easy way of finding out.” The Doctor said and held out the metal spider. “Someone brought the little pet on board. Let’s send him back to master.” He put the spider down and, as the crowd watched in silence with baited breath, it scuttled off toward Cassandra, and as all eyes turned toward her, it scanned her before changing direction, making all eyes follow its progress around the room, and headed towards the group of black-robed figures, stopping in front of them.

“The Adherents of the Repeated Meme.” Cassandra gasped theatrically. “J'accuse!”

“That's all very well, and really kind of obvious,” The Doctor started walking forward, towards the robed figures, “but if you stop and think about it…” he stopped in front of them and the leader of the Adherents raised its arm to hit him, only for the blow to be blocked by the Doctor. He grabbed the arm and pulled, getting a groan from the figure, revealing a robotic attachment with wires dangling out from the end of it. “A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea.” He looked around at all of them before looking back at the Adherents and pulling on one of the dangling wires, causing all the Adherents to collapse in a pile of robes. He tossed the arm on top of the pile and turned back to the crowd, continuing his explanation. “Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo.” He nudged the little spider with his booted foot. “Go home.” The spider scuttled off, only to stop in front of Cassandra once again.

“I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed.” Cassandra said with narrowed eyes as she looked at him. The Doctor and Serayah raised their eyebrows at the comment. “At arms!”

The two attendants raised their spray guns and aimed them at the Doctor.

“What are you going to do, moisturize me?” The Doctor asked in mock fear as Serayah moved forward to stand next to him, gesturing for Rose to stay where she was.

“With acid.” Cassandra replied, before carrying on smugly. “Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face.”

“Sabotaging the ship while you’re still inside it? How stupid’s that?” the Doctor asked skeptically.

“You had hoped to manufacture a hostage situation.” Serayah said realization dawning on her face. At the confused glances she got from the crowd, she elaborated. “With her as one of the victims, no one would think twice if she was the only survivor. The recognition and awareness she would have received for surviving such ‘trauma’ miraculously unscathed would have been remarkable.”

“Precisely.” Cassandra said smugly. “And the compensation would have been enormous.”

“Okay. _That_ I didn’t think of.” Serayah muttered, though it was still heard by everyone on the room.

“Five billion years and it still comes down to money.” The Doctor growled angrily.

“Do you think it’s cheap looking like this?” Cassandra snapped, narrowing her eyes. “Flatness costs a fortune. _I_ am the last human, Doctor, Professor. Me.” The Doctor and Serayah once again had their eyebrows raised in disbelief as Cassandra continued. “Not that freaky little kid of yours.”

“Arrest her, the infidel.” Moxx ordered them at large.

“Oh, shut it, pixie.” Cassandra snapped, making Moxx splutter in indignation. “I've still got my final option.”

“Please do not tell me it has…” Serayah began, only to be cut off.

_“Earth death in three minutes.”_

They all glanced up at the ceiling when they heard the computerized reminder.

“Got to do with that.” Serayah finished her earlier statement with a groan.

“Yes, and here it comes.” Cassandra said gleefully. “You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? ‘Burn, baby, burn’.”

“Then you'll burn with us.” Jabe pointed out, amid the mutterings that had broken out.

“Oh, I'm so sorry.” Cassandra said in a false apologetic voice. “I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but…” she turned smug. “I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate!”

There were a series of explosions throughout the Platform, rocking the station. Jabe held on to the arms of her male escorts as the other guests held onto each other or the walls as they felt the force of the explosions. The Doctor took Serayah and held her close, keeping her from stumbling from the force of the explosion.

There was a high-pitched warning alarm in the background.

“Force fields gone with the planet about to explode.” Cassandra told them, explaining the alarm. “At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband.” Cassandra snorted slightly before controlling herself. “Oh, shame on me.”

_“Safety systems failing. Safety systems failing.”_

“Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings.” Cassandra said happily as she and her attendants beamed out of the Platform, sending red alarm lights flashing through the observation gallery.

_“Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.”_

“Reset the computer.” Moxx cried, his tiny arms flailing about.

“Only the Steward would know how.” Jabe reminded him.

“No. We can do it by hand.” The Doctor said.

“Yes, there must be a system restore switch.” Serayah added, seeing his train of thought.

“Aya, come on.” The Doctor said as him and Serayah walked towards the door. “Rose, stay here.”

“Where am I gonna go? Ipswich?” Rose asked sarcastically as she helped one of the Ambassadors stand up after he had fallen from the force of the explosion.

“You lot, just chill.” The Doctor told the rest, walking backwards through the door before the duo began running down the corridor.

_“Heat rising.”_

They ran through the corridors.

_“Earth death in two minutes. Earth death in two minutes.”_

They ran through the ducts, hand-in-hand, as the computer continued with the automated warnings.

_“Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical.”_

They entered the Engine Room as the computer gave another warning.

_“Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical”_

“Oh, and guess where the switch is.” The Doctor said sarcastically as they came to a stop in front of the rotating razor-sharp fans.

It didn’t need saying from either of them that the switch was on the other side of the fans.

_“Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising.”_

The Doctor went to breaker that was attached to a wall right next to the door and pulls the lever down, slowing the fans just enough so they can run through. He came back to the fans, letting go of the lever, only for the fans to resume their previous lethal speed.

_“External temperature five thousand degrees.”_

Serayah closed her eyes and, less than a second later, large feathered wings sprouted from her back. They were pure white and seemed to glow with an inner light.

“Are you sure?” The Doctor asked her, knowing she hadn’t flown since they ended the Time War.

_“Heat levels hazardous.”_

Serayah nodded and took a deep breath. The two of them walked towards the edge, and with a final kiss between the two, Serayah jumped off and fell down towards the engines whirring away beneath them. The Doctor looked over the edge and tried to find her, praying that she was still able to fly. Less than a second later, Serayah flew up and, as he watched her in admiration, she flew beneath the bridge to the other side of the fans.

_“Earth death in one minute. Earth death in one minute.”_

The glass windows all around the Platform began to crack, the cries of terror from the guests in the Observation Gallery were intermingled with the fearful whimpers of the Platform’s little attendants.

_“Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction.”_

 “We’re going to die!!” Moxx cried out in fear as they watched the windows continue to crack, and rays of the sun’s deadly glare randomly lance through the room.

The large group dodged and avoided as many of the rays as possible, as the cracks got larger, making the rays larger as well.

_“Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight…Seven, six, five…”_

 Rose closed her eyes as the rays began to get larger as they lanced through the cracking glass.

_“Four.”_

Serayah made it to the other side of the Engine Room and landed gracefully on her high-heeled feet and ran to the breaker, resetting it.

“Raise shields!” Serayah yelled, holding the breaker down.

_“One.”_

A force field enveloped the Platform just as the sun expanded and the planet began to boil before exploding outwards.

_“Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair.”_

Rose opened her eyes as the cracks began to disappear, and saw as the fractured remains of her home float by the newly repaired glass.

Serayah flew back to the Doctor and after a quick hug, they went back to the Observation Gallery hand-in-hand. Entering the Observation Gallery, they saw the Moxx of Balhoon’s transport pod smoking, as he had been fried by the glare. There were a few piles of dust around the gallery where others had been fried as well, including some of the little attendants. The only sound now was the communications of the little attendants as they saw to the guests.

“You alright?” Serayah asked Rose as soon as she saw her next to one wall, one hand holding onto the wall for support as she calmed her erratic heart rate.

“Yeah.” Rose nodded. “You two?”

“Yeah.” Serayah nodded as the Doctor looked around the room and took in the piles of ash and the sorrow-filled crowd, much smaller than it had been a few minutes earlier.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The Doctor growled. “I’m full of ideas. I’m bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed.” He stalked to the stand that held the alleged ostrich egg. “Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby.” He smashed the egg on the stand, revealing a small device. He picked up the device and walked back to Serayah. “Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed.” He turned the dial on the back of the device.

“Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces…” Came Cassandra voice seconds before was beamed back onto the Platform. “Oh!” Cassandra breathed when she saw the angry faces looking back at her.

“The last human.” The Doctor said with a growl.

“So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, The Human Club.” Cassandra said flustered, stumbling slightly over her words.

“People have died Cassandra!” Serayah said angrily, her comment echoed by several mummers of agreement. “You murdered them!”

“That depends on your definition of ‘people’, and that is enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries.” Cassandra retorted back, completely unrepentant. “Take me to court, then, Doctor, Professor, and watch me smile” the skin began to tighten “and cry and flutter…”

“And creak?” the Doctor added, interrupting her.

“And what?” she asked surprised, looking at them, having not realized that she was drying out.

“Creak. You are creaking.” Serayah told her as Rose stood up.

“What?” Cassandra asked surprise, pausing for a moment as she began noticing the tightening of her skin. “Ah! I'm drying out!” she cried out. “Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me!” she called out, “Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!” she asked when no one did so, her voice tightening as well in pain as her skin continued to tighten and shrink.

“You raised the temperature.” The Doctor reminded her matter-of-factly.

“Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor, Professor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything.” She pleaded as Rose walked over to them slowly.

“Help her.” Rose requested softly to them, only for the couple to look at her with those ancient eyes.

“Everything has it’s time, and everything dies.” The Doctor told Rose softly as Cassandra continued to plead and moan.

“I’m too young!” was her final cry of protest as she exploded, splattering in every direction.

Rose sank to her knees as the events of the past hour caught up with her. Serayah sank to her knees next to the young woman, gently putting her arms around the blonde.

Rose let out a deep breath, Serayah coaching her to take a few more breaths to calm her rapid heart rate.

While Serayah was with Rose, the Doctor walked out of the gallery as several of the guests followed him before heading towards the shuttle bay to leave.

_“Shuttles Five and Six departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance.”_

A short while later, the gallery was empty except for Rose and Serayah standing at the window, looking out at the asteroids that were once the Earth as they floated past the Platform and the red giant Sun.

“The end of the Earth.” Rose said softly as the Doctor came to a stop beside them, interlocking his fingers with Serayah’s as he took her hand. “It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go.”

 “All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just…”

“Come with us.” Serayah said, holding her dainty hand out to the taller blonde, who took it.

They went back to the TARDIS and dematerialized, and when they landed a few seconds later, Rose went out to see that they were in the Downtown London. Serayah and the Doctor following behind her, closing the door as they stepped out.

Rose took in the sounds of a baby crying, a man laughing as the three of them stand in the middle of a crowd teeming with people going about their lives.

“Big Issue! Big Issue!” came the call of a newspaper vendor.

Rose had tears in her eyes as she took in the hustle and bustle she once took for granted.

“You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't.” the Doctor said gently, one arm around Serayah as they looked at their Companion. “One day it's all gone.” He looked up, “Even the sky. Our planets are gone. They’re dead. They burned like the Earth. They’re just rocks and dust before its time.”

“What happened?” Rose asked them softly, noticing the pain in his voice and in their eyes.

“There was a war. And we lost.” Serayah told her.

“A war with who?” Rose asked. When they didn’t answer, she asked, “What about your people?”

The young blonde looked between the two of them.

“I’m a Time Lord. I’m the last of the Time Lords. Aya’s the last of the Guardian Confessor’s.” The Doctor said to her. “They’re all gone. We’re the only survivors of our two races. We’re left travelling on our own 'cos there's no one else.”

“There’s me.” Rose said softly.

They looked at her and smiled slightly at her. She smiled back.

“You’ve seen how dangerous it is.” Serayah said. “Do you want to go home?”

“I don’t know. I want…” Rose trailed off and sniffed delicately at the air. “Oh, can you smell chips?”

They both sniffed and smiled.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Serayah nodded with a laugh.

“I want chips.” Rose breathed.

“Me, too.” Serayah said.

“Me, too.” The Doctor said with a smile as he looked at the two women.

“Right then,” Rose said. “Before either of you get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay.” She told them.

“No money.” The Doctor said, shrugging his shoulders, mirrored by Serayah.

“What sort of dates are you?” Rose asked mockingly. “Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close.”

The three of them walked off towards a chip shop, laughing lightly as the Doctor held Serayah close with an arm around her shoulder and Rose looped her arm through his free one on the other side.


	4. The Unquiet Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor, Serayah and Rose travel back to Cardiff in 1869, where a funeral parlor, run by Gabriel Sneed with his clairvoyant servant girl Gwyneth, contains corpses which have been animated by a mysterious blue vapor. Sneed and Gwyneth kidnap Rose, and the Doctor and Serayah team up with Charles Dickens to track her down. In the funeral parlor, the group is reunited and the Doctor and Serayah determine that the blue vapor is the result of a being trying to cross a rift in the space-time the parlor is built on. They are revealed to be the Gelth, who animate bodies until they can build their own, and are using Gwyneth as a bridge. As the Gelth respond negatively to gas, Gwyneth volunteers to ignite the gas which will kill all the Gelth, and the Doctor, Serayah, Rose, and Dickens escape before the parlor is engulfed in flames.

**Season 1 Episode 3 - The Unquiet Dead**

The TARDIS jerked in mid-flight through the Time Vortex, alarms ringing, causing her three passengers to tighten their grips on the console. It was utter mayhem as the three passengers piloted the magnificent ship.

“Hold that one down.” The Doctor ordered Rose, as he stretched over the console and pressed two buttons down on opposite sides of the console.

“I am holding this one down!” Rose snapped back, in a similar position as the Doctor.

“Hold them both down!” Serayah yelled, her position similar to the other two, though not covering quite as much space due to her tiny frame.

“It’s not going to work.” Rose told them, stretching across her half of the console and pressed the button.

“Oy, we promised you a time machine and that’s what you’re going to get.” The Doctor snapped at her. “Now, you’ve had a look at the future, now let’s have a look at the future. 1860. How does 1860 sound?”

“What happened in 1860?” Rose asked, history never having been her strong point.

“No idea. Let’s find out.” The Doctor said, shaking his head as much as he could while piloting the ship.

“Hold on, here we go!” Serayah exclaimed excitedly, despite her spread out position over the console, as they hurtled through the Vortex.

Landing roughly, the trio were tossed to floor. As soon as the engines fell silent, the three began laughing as they got back to their feet.

“Blimey!” Rose cried chuckling lightly.

“You’re telling me.” Serayah muttered as she got up as well, a smile on her face.

“You two alright?” The Doctor asked with a smile, getting to his feet and going to the monitor to see where they landed.

“Yeah.” Serayah said, coming to stand beside him and have a look at the monitor as well.

“I think so, nothing broken at least.” Rose said, coming to stand on the Doctor’s other side. “Did we make it? Where are we?”

“I did it!” the Doctor exclaimed happily. “Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860.”

“That’s so weird.” Rose said softly. “It’s Christmas.”

“All yours.” Serayah told her with a smile.

“But, it's like… think about it, though.” Rose said ponderingly. “Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you two. You two can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder neither of you ever stay still.”

“Not a bad life?” The Doctor commented, crossing his arms as Serayah leaned against the console.

“Better with three.” Rose said, making them all smile. “Come on, then.” She clapped him on the arm and headed to the door. Startling the two aliens.

“Hey, where do you think you're going?” Serayah called out to her in surprise.

“1860.” Rose replied back with a smile, turning to them on the ramp.

Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella.” The Doctor told her, gesturing to her 21st Century clothes that she had been wearing since she had joined them.

Serayah walked over to her and looped her arm through the taller blonde’s.

“Come on.” She said, pulling Rose through the main doorway just off the console room. “There's a wardrobe through here.”

Behind them, there was a faint “Hurry up!” from the Doctor as he watched them go before shaking his head, knowing from years of experience that it would take them as long as it would, and not a moment less.

As they walked, she gave the blonde directions just so she would know in case she ever had to go on her own. “First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left.”

Entering the massive and magnificent Wardrobe, Rose looked around as Serayah muttered under her breath as she pulled her towards the selections containing the mid-20th Century clothing, before turning towards the racks containing fashions from the 1860’s.

“Okay, here we go.” Serayah said, snapping Rose out of her daze as she looked around at all the clothing, complete with all types of accessories, shoes, etc.

“Wow.”

“I know.” Serayah squealed happily, before pointing to a row of dresses. “Here, you can start with the ones here. You can wear anything you want here, including the accessories.”

Rose smiled in thanks and began looking through the dresses, Serayah turning to another row and doing the same.

Once they made their choices and changed, they returned to the console room, arm-in-arm, where the Doctor was working under the console. He looked up when the two women entered, appropriately coiffed and attired for the time period.

Rose in a maroon dress with a black bodice and black embroidery, black chandelier earrings, black shoes and black shawl, her short hair pinned into a bun, with a matching black and maroon feather.

Serayah in a TARDIS blue dress, with puffed sleeves a slightly darker shade and silver embroidery (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/558939003727072531/>), matching silver and TARDIS blue necklace and dangling earring set (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/118993615133078194/>), her long hair pinned up in rolls and covered with a fashionable hairnet scattered with sapphires, with a braid over the crown of her head (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/63331938490399945/>). On her feet were a pair of matching 5” heeled vintage ankle boots (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229683649717278548/>)  having refused to wear the 19th century boots as she found them to be incredibly uncomfortable, not to mention doing nothing for her small height of 4” 10. Her wedding rings held a pride of place of her left hand. Over top the dress, she had a velvet silver cloak (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/832603049833250622/>) with the cord tied at her throat and the hood down.

“Blimey!” he said jumping out from the space between the controls, eyes wide as he took in his wife’s appearance. “Aya, you look beautiful.”

He took her hand as she smiled at him as he looked at Rose, taking in her appearance.

“Don’t laugh.” Rose warned, pointing her finger at him with a small laugh.

“You look very pretty,” he said truthfully, before adding, “considering.”

“Considering what?” she asked with a slight frown.

“That you’re human.” He said, getting an elbow the side from Serayah.

“I _think_ that's a compliment.” Rose said, before taking in his appearance, which _hadn’t_ changed. “Aren’t you going to change?”

“I’ve changed my jumper.” He replied. “Come on!”

The couple moved to go outside, but were stopped by Rose.

“You two stay here. You’ve done this before.” She said, walking past them and going to the door. “This one’s mine.”

She opened the door and looked out, gingerly stepping onto the freshly fallen snow as the Doctor and Serayah walked out behind her.

“Ready for this?” Serayah asked with an encouraging smile, her arm looped though the Doctor’s.

The Doctor held his other arm out to Rose, who looped her own through it.

“Here we go.” He said with a bright smile. “History.”

They walked down the street as a small choir sang ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’. They paused for a moment, Rose looking around in wonder as the Doctor spotted a man holding a newspaper. He let the two women go and went over to the man. Rose and Serayah followed him and watched as the Doctor handed the man a few coins and took the paper in exchange.

Serayah walked had her arm looped through the Doctor’s as he opened the paper and looked at it. Rose was walking beside Serayah.

“I got the flight a bit wrong.” He told Rose as he lowered the paper.

“I don’t care.” She replied, a wide smile on her face as they continued walking with the Doctor beside them.

“It's not 1860, it's 1869.”

“I don’t care.”

“It’s not Naples.”

“I don’t care.”

“It’s Cardiff.”

Rose stopped in her tracks, her smile fading, as the Doctor and Serayah continued walking.

“Right.” She muttered before hurrying to catch up with them.

They walked for a while, Rose slowly getting over her dismay at being in Cardiff, regardless of the time period, when they heard screams.

“That’s more like it!” the Doctor exclaimed with a smile, tossing the paper over his shoulder as they ran towards the theatre, where the screams were originating from.

They ran inside, fighting against the crowd that was fleeing. The squeezed their way into the auditorium and looked up, seeing a blue gas entity flying around the upper viewing gallery.

“Fantastic.” The Doctor breathed, earning an eye-roll from his wife as they ran to the stage.

The entity disappeared for the moment as an old woman and she collapsed as the Doctor reached the stage, Serayah behind him.

“Did you see where it came from?” the Doctor asked the well-dressed man on the stage.

“Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he?” the man growled crossly as he walked towards them slightly. “I trust you’re satisfied, sir!”

“Oi! Leave her alone!” Rose cried out, making them turn to her and saw that an old man and a young girl were carrying the woman out. “I’ll get them!”

 “Be careful!” Serayah yelled to her as Rose followed the pair carrying the body. The Doctor and Serayah jumped onto the stage and walked to wards the well-dressed man.

“Did it say anything?” the Doctor asked him, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Can it speak?” Serayah added, standing in front of the man. “I’m the Professor, by the way.” She smiled at him, earning a nod in response.

“And I’m the Doctor.” The Doctor added, waving slightly.

“Doctor? You look more like a navvie.” The man muttered in response, making Serayah giggle.

“What is _wrong_ with this jumper?” the Doctor asked exasperatedly, looking between his wife and the unimpressed man beside him.

The blue entity appeared again with a loud screech, flying around the auditorium as several people screamed once more and began running for the doors. The entity flew around above their heads for a moment before flying into one of the gas lights that hung on the walls.

“Gas.” The Doctor breathed. “It’s made of gas.”

“Come on. We need to find Rose.” Serayah said, jumping off the stage. “She said she was going after that pair with the old woman.”

The Doctor jumped off as well, followed by the well-dressed man, and they headed outside. They looked around, and saw a young woman close the back of a hearse behind an unconscious Rose.

“Rose!” Serayah and the Doctor yelled, running to the road before stopping.

“You’re not escaping me, sir, madam!” the man cried, following them as he rambled on. “What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?”

“Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks.” The Doctor said, as he and Serayah went to nearby carriage. “Oi, you!” he said to the driver, running around the side and getting in, followed by Serayah. “Follow that hearse!”

“I can't do that, sir.” The driver protested.

“Why not?” Serayah asked, sitting across from her husband as the well-dressed man came to the door.

“I'll tell you why not. I'll give you a very good reason why not. Because this is my coach.” He blustered to them.

“Well, get in then!” Serayah said exasperatedly as the Doctor pulled the man in.

“Move!” the Doctor yelled to the driver once the man was inside and the door was closed.

The driver cracks his whip and the carriage began to move down the street.

“Come on, you’re losing them.” The Doctor urged the driver as he looked out of the window.

“Everything in order, Mr. Dickens?” the driver called back to them.

“No! It is not!” the man snapped as the Doctor and Serayah’s eyes widened and they looked at the man whose carriage they were in.

“What did he say?” Serayah asked, looking at the man.

“Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humor…” the man said, not noticing their expressions.

“Dickens?” the Doctor asked, turning slightly in the seat to look at the man next to him.

“Yes.”

“Charles Dickens?” the Doctor clarified.

“Yes.”

“ _The_ Charles Dickens?”

“Should I remove the gentleman and lady, sir?” the Driver asked.

“Charles Dickens? You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent brilliant. We’ve read them all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and what's the other one, the one with the ghost?” The Doctor exclaimed excitedly, like a kid at Christmas.

“A Christmas Carol?” the man, Dickens, asked.

“No, no, no, the one with the trains.” The Doctor said, shaking his head.

“’The Signal Man’." Serayah suggested.

" Yes. That’s it. Absolutely terrifying!” The Doctor said. “The best short story ever written. You’re a genius.” 

“You want me to get rid of them, sir?” the Driver asked again.

“Er, no, I think they can stay.” Dickens replied.

“Honestly, Charles. Can I call you Charles? We’re such big fans.” The Doctor said, excitement pouring off him in waves.

“What? You’re big what?” Dickens asked confused by the context of the term.

“Fan. Number one fans, that's us.” Serayah replied, gesturing to herself and her husband.

“How exactly are either of you a fan?” he asked, looking between them. “In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?”

“No, it means fanatic, devoted to.” The Doctor explained. “Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding or what? I mean, it's rubbish, that bit.”

“I thought you said you two were my fans.” Dicken said, taken aback at the criticism.

“Ah, well, if you can't take criticism…” The Doctor said. “Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up.”

“ _Annwyl,_ now is not the time.” Serayah said, bringing them back on track. She turned to the driver, “Come on, faster!”

The driver cracked his whip and the carriage began moving faster.

“Who exactly is in that hearse?” Dickens asked, taking in the worried looks that were now on their faces.

“Our friend.” The Doctor said. “She's only nineteen. It's my fault. She's in my care, and now she's in danger.”

“It’s both of our fault.” Serayah said softly, taking his large hand in her smaller one and squeezing it gently.

“Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important.” Dickens asked indignantly. He called out to the driver, “Driver, be swift! The chase is on!”

“Yes, sir!” the Driver cracked his whip a few times, making the horses pick up speed.

“Attaboy, Charlie.”

“Nobody calls me Charlie.” Dickens told him.

“The ladies do.” Serayah said with a smirk, a similar one on the Doctor’s face.

“How do you know that?” Dickens asked surprised.

“I told you, we’re your number one…” the Doctor began.

“Number one fans.” Dickens muttered. “Yes.”

A few minutes later, the hearse began to slow down, before coming to a complete stop.

“Here you are, sirs, madam.” The driver said. “The hearse is around the corner.”

The three of them got out, Serayah being helped by the Doctor, and looked at the building.

“What is this place?” Serayah asked the driver, who was still on the carriage bench.

“The town Undertaker, madam.”

“Well, we have to find Rose.” The Doctor said, taking Serayah’s hand.

She nodded in response as the three of them walked to the front door. Dickens sharply the door knocker and stepped back to wait.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and a young serving girl stood in the doorway.

“I’m sorry, sirs, madam. We’re closed.” She said apologetically in a crisp Welsh accent as she took in Mr. Dicken’s appearance on her master’s doorstep as well as the well-dressed woman behind him standing next to the strangely dressed man.

“Nonsense.” Dickens said. “Since when did an Undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master.”

“He’s not in sir.” She said before she tried to close the door.

“Don’t lie to me, child.” Dickens growled angrily, putting a powerful hand on the door and pushing it open. “Summon him at once.”

“I'm awfully sorry, Mister Dickens, but the master's indisposed.” She said shakily, jumping slightly at the momentary display of anger.

Behind her, a gas lamp that hung on the wall flared, drawing the Doctor and Serayah’s eyes to it.

“Having trouble with your gas?” The Doctor asked, and at the serving gilrs look of confusion, Serayh nodded towards the lamp behind her.

“What the Shakespeare is going on?” Dickens asked in confusion.

As the lamp continued to flare, the Doctor went passed the serving girl to the wall the lamp was hanging on.

“You’re not allowed inside, sir.” The girl told him as he put his ear to the wall.

“There’s something inside the walls.” He said. He paused and listened for a moment. “The gas pipes. Something’s living inside the gas.”

“Let me out! Open the door!” came Rose’s faint voice.

“That’s her.” Serayah said, coming inside the house as the Doctor straightened up.

The serving girl closed her eyes in shame as the Doctor ran down the corridor, followed by Serayah.

“Please, please, let me out!” they heard Rose’s faint plea.

Dicken’s entered the house as well and followed the couple down the corridor.

“How dare you, sir?” an old man yelled in indignation as he turned the corner and ran into the Doctor and Serayah, only for the couple to push past him and carry on. “This is my house!”

“Shut up!” Dickens said, running by him and following Serayah and the Doctor.

“Let me out! Somebody open the door! Open the door!” Rose’s voice was getting louder, until they could hear her banging on other side of a door.

With a powerful kick, Serayah kicked the door open as the Doctor walked in.

“I think this is my dance.” He said, grabbing Rose and moving back to the doorway next to Serayah, who put her arm around the slightly shaking girl.

“It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence.” Dickens muttered disbelievingly, looking over their shoulders.

“No, we’re not. The dead are walking.” Serayah said to him, not looking away from the moving corpses. She looked up at Rose. “Hi.” She added with a bright smile.

“Hi.” She replied, slightly faintly. She looked at Dickens and turned to the couple on either side of her. “Who’s your friend?”

“Charles Dickens.” The Doctor replied brightly.

“Okay.” She said, turning back to the corpses.

“My names the Doctor.” The Time Lord said. “This is the Professor.” He gestured to Serayah, who waved. “Who are you?”

“Failing.” The male corpse said with the voice of many. “Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us. Argh!”

The beings possessing the corpses screamed as they leave the two host bodies, returning to the gas lamps that lit the room. Rose winced as she heard the screams. Once the gas entities left them, the bodies of the dead pair collapsed to the ground.

“We should get them back into their coffins.” Serayah suggested after a moment, looking at the corpses on the ground before looking at the three men and the young serving girl.

The Doctor, Serayah and Rose went over to the body of the old lady and crouched down, Serayah by the side, Rose by the head and the Doctor by the legs.

“On three.” Serayah said, getting nods from the other two. “One. Two. Three.”

They lifted the old woman and gently put her in an open coffin, the serving girl hurrying over and putting the arms properly as the Doctor went to the male corpse. He was joined by Dickens and the undertaker.

“What’s your name?” Serayah asked the young serving girl as the men placed the male body in the corpse.

“Gwyneth, madam.” She replied softly, glancing at her for a moment before looking away.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Gwyneth.” Serayah said softly, a gently smile on her lips as she looked up at the young girl. “As I am sure you heard my husband mention earlier, I am the Professor.” She gestured to Rose who was standing beside her. “This is our friend Rose.”

“It is nice to meet you, madam.” Gwyneth said to them softly.

“Who’s the old man?” Rose asked suddenly, watching the men.

“Mr. Sneed.” Gwyneth said and began making her way out of the room. “I will go make some tea for everyone.”

“Right.” Rose muttered as the serving girl left.

 “Rose.” Serayah said warningly, recognizing the tone the young blonde was using.

Rose didn’t reply, and Serayah let it go. If Rose was going to rant at the old man, then she wasn’t going to stop her. After all, the man did drug her, put her in a room with walking corpses and then take off. Serayah had ranted at people for a lot less.

A short while later, they were all in the living room and Gwyneth was pouring tea for them all.

“First of all you drug me,” Rose ranted at Sneed, who was sitting on an arm chair and watching the blond who had a walking cane in her hand as she paced in front of him. “then you kidnap me… and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man!”

The Doctor, standing by the fireplace, held back his chuckles though he couldn’t keep the amused smile off his face. Serayah, sitting on a chair at the table across from Dickens, hid her own amused smile behind her hand.

“I will not be spoken to like this!” Sneed said, insulted at the accusation as Gwyneth began serving the tea.

“Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies!” Rose continued, ignoring the interruption. “And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So, come on, talk!”

“It's not my fault! It's this house.” Sneed cried out defensively. Seeing their eyes on him, he continued, shifting slightly in nervousness. “It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until three months back, and then the stiffs…” at Dicken’s raised eyebrow, he amended, “the er… dear departed… started getting restless.”

“Tommy-rot!” Dicken snapped, taking a sip of his tea.

“You witnessed it!” Sneed reminded him. “Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps...”

“Two sugars, sir, just how you like it.” Gwyneth said softly to the Doctor, handing a cup of tea to him, which he took with a smile of thanks and looked at her retreating back curiously.

“…One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service. Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she planned.” Sneed said to Dicken, giving examples of others who had walked off after dying, trying to convince the author of the truth if the words.

“Morbid fancy.” Dickens denied, standing up.

“Oh, Charles, you were there!” Serayah snapped, getting tired of the man’s constant denial of what was right in front of him.

“I saw nothing but an illusion.” The author stated firmly, standing tall, with his head held high.

“If you’re going to deny it, don’t waste our time. Just shut up!” The Doctor snapped at him, causing the author to deflate slightly from his adamant stance.

“What about the gas?” Serayah asked, leaning forwards slightly.

“That’s new madam.” Sneed admitted. “Never seen anything like that.”

“Means it's getting stronger, the Rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through.” The Doctor explained as they all looked at him.

“What’s the Rift?” Rose asked, looking at him.

“A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another.” Serayah explained, making them turn to her. “It's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time.”

“That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations.” Sneed said in realization, as Dickens left the room. “Echoes in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine.”

With that, they fell silent as Gwyneth gathered the tea cups and saucers, placing them on a tray and taking them out of the room. The Doctor left the room as well, as Serayah and Rose exchange looks and followed Gwyneth to the pantry.

The two women walked in just as Gwyneth lit a gas lamp and blew out the match. They went to the sink and looked for a rag that they could use to wash the dishes.

“Please, miss, madam, you shouldn’t be helping.” Gwyneth protested as Rose picked up a rag and grabbed a dish that Serayah held out for her. “It’s not right.”

“Don’t be silly.” Serayah said with a gentle smile.

“Sneed works you to death.” Rose added as Gwyneth gestured for the rag Rose was holding and the dish that was in Serayah’s hand. They handed them to her and stepped back slightly as Rose asked, “How much you get paid?”

“Eight pound a year, miss.” Gwyneth replied, causing Rose to look at her in shock.

“How much?” she asked, her shock coloring her voice.

“I know. I would’ve been happy with six.” Gwyneth admitted, misinterpreting the reason for Rose’s shock.

“The value of the pound is much different right now.” Serayah whispered quietly to Rose, who nodded in understanding.

“So, did you go to school or what?” Rose asked, changing the subject slightly.

“Of course, I did.” Gwyneth replied, turning to face them. “What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper.”

“Wha- once a week?” the young blonde asked, once again surprised by what she had been told.

 “We did sums and everything.” Gwyneth replied, pausing for a moment before continuing in a whisper, “To be honest, I hated every second.”

“Me, too.” Rose admitted, giggling.

“Me, too.” Serayah added with a nod. “Especially the teachers.”

“ _That_ I can understand.” Rose said, looking at her with a smile.

“Don’t tell anyone…” Gwyneth said after a few moments, “but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own!” She finished with a small laugh, a hand on her mouth as if the very idea had been outrageous and she couldn’t believe she had done it.

“I did plenty of that.” Rose told them, as they giggled lightly. “I used to go ‘round the shops with my mate Shareen. We used to go and look at boys.”

Gwyneth lost her giggle.

“Well, I don't know much about that, miss.” She said with a straight face and turned back to the sink, washing the dishes.

“Oh, times haven't changed that much.” Serayah teased the young serving girl.

“I bet you've done the same.” Rose added as she poked her slightly in the waist.

“I don’t think so, miss, madam.” Gwyneth said, not looking away from her work.

“Come on Gwyneth, you can tell us.” Rose said. “I bet you have your eye on someone.”

“I suppose. There is one lad. The butchers’ boy.” Gwyneth admitted, turning to the two travelers. “He comes by every Tuesday.” She got a dreamy look in her eye. “Such a nice smile on him.”

Rose and Serayah sighed.

“I like a nice smile.” Serayah said with a slightly dreamy sigh of her own, remembering the beginnings of her relationship with the Time Lord.

“Yeah, good smile, nice bum.” Rose added seriously, making Gwyneth stop giggling and stare at her in shock.

“Well, I have never heard the like!" Gwyneth said, the shocked look on her face sending Serayah and Rose into a fit of giggles.

“Ask him out.” Rose said.

“Yes, give him a cup of tea, many relationships began with a single cup.” Serayah said, making them look at her. “Even romantic relationships.” She had a reminiscing look on her face. At the curious looks on the girl’s faces, she said with a gentle smile. “Mine began like that.” She let out a sigh and looked out the darkened window into the night outside. “We grew up together and were best friends. I would make tea for him every day, but one day, it was different. It began the same as every day before, but when he took the cup, he looked at me as if I was the only one in the room, like it was the first time he was seeing me.”

“Yeah, give him a cup of tea or something.” Rose agreed, turning to Gwyneth. “It’s a start.”

“I swear it is the strangest thing, miss, madam.” Gwyneth said softly. “You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you both talk like some sort of wild things.” She turned to Rose, “You especially, miss.”

“Maybe I am.” Rose replied. “Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mister Sneed.”

“Oh, now that's not fair.” Gwyneth said softly. “He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve.”

“I’m sorry.” Rose said, Serayah gently saying the same.

“Thank you, miss, madam.” Gwyneth said softly. “But I'll be with them again, one day, sitting with them in paradise.” She had a look of hope on her face. “I shall be so blessed. They're waiting for me. Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss.” She turned to Serayah, “and your family as well, madam.”

“Maybe.” Rose said softly, her voice slightly pained at the memory of a father she never had the chance to know.

“Who told you they were dead?” Serayah asked curiously.

Rose nodded in agreement with the question.

“I don't know.” Gwyneth replied shiftily, turning back to the dishes. “Must have been the Doctor.”

“My father died years back.” Rose said.

Serayah frowned slightly, she didn’t know that Rose’s father had died, and she knew for certain that the Doctor didn’t either.

“But you’ve been thinking about him lately more than ever.” Gwyneth replied, glancing at Serayah and adding, “And you as well, madam. It hasn’t been very long and you’ve never stopped thinking about everyone you lost.”

“I suppose so.” Rose admitted softly. “How do you know all this?”

“Mister Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, madam?”

“No. we don’t.” Serayah replied.

“No.” Rose scoffed as the three of them laughed lightly. “No servants were I’m from, either.”

“And you've come such a long way.” Gwyneth said, her laughter fading as she looked at the blonde.

“What makes you think so?” Rose asked, her own laughter fading as well as she and Serayah looked at her.

“You're from London.” Gwyneth said, looking into Rose’s eyes as the blonde was unable to look away from the penetrating gaze. “I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame. And the noise…” she flinched slightly as if she could hear the noise herself, “and the metal boxes racing past. And the birds in the sky… No, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness… The Big Bad Wolf.” She stumbled back, hitting the shelf behind her. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss. I’m sorry madam.”

“It’s alright.” Rose said shakily.

Serayah stared at the girl with wide eyes, the pieces falling into place. How she had known the way they like their tea to knowing things they definitely hadn’t told her about.

“I can't help it.” Gwyneth explained desperately, afraid of what the two women may do to her. After all, it was 1869 and those who were different were never accepted. “Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it.”

“But it’s getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?” The Doctor’s voice came from behind them, making Gwyneth jump as Serayah and Rose turned to look at him.

“All the time, sir.” Gwyneth replied quietly. She frowned, her expression pained. “Every night, voices in my head.”

“You grew up in Cardiff?” Serayah asked her, and getting a nod in reply.

“You grew up on top of the Rift. You're part of it. You're the key.” The Doctor added.

“I’ve tried to make sense of it, sir.” Gwyneth said. “Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts.”

“Well, that should help. You can show us what to do.” The Doctor replied.

“What to do where, Eta?” Serayah asked with a frown.

“We're going to have a séance.” He informed them.

“Oh dear.” Serayah muttered as they walked out of the pantry.

Several minutes later, they were all back in the living room, seated around the table.

“This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in Butetown. Come… we must all join hands.” Gwyneth said with a smile, holding her hands out.

“I can’t take part in this.” Dickens said, standing up from his seat between Rose and Gwyneth.

“Humbug? Come on, open mind.” The Doctor reminded the author.

“This is precisely the sort of heap mummery I strive to unmask.” Dickens retorted. “Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing.”

“Now don’t antagonize her.” The Doctor warned. “I love a happy medium.” He added with a smile to Gwyneth, who was sitting next to him.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” Rose said with a slight laugh, sitting beside Sneed.

“Me either.” Serayah said shaking her head, seated between the Doctor and Sneed.

“Come on, we might need you.” The Doctor told Dickens, who huffed and sat back down between Rose and Gwyneth.

“Good man.” The Doctor said to him, before turning to Gwyneth. “Now, Gwyneth… reach out.”

“Speak to us.” Gwyneth said. “Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden.”

They heard whispers around them.

“Can you hear that?” Rose asked, straining her ears.

“Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly.” Dickens insisted.

“Look at her.” Serayah said, looking at the serving girl.

Gwyneth was rocking in her seat, looking at the ceiling.

“I see them.” She breathed, still looking up. “I feel them.”

They looked up as tendrils of gas began floating down above their heads.

“What’s it saying?” Rose asked.

“They can't get through the Rift.” Serayah replied.

“Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it.” The Doctor told the medium. “Now, look deep. Allow them through.”

“I can't!” she cried.

“Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth.” The Doctor told her firmly. “Make the link.”

Gwyneth closed her eyes concentrated.

“Yes.” She breathed, her eyes snapping open as several blue outlines of people appeared behind her.

Dickens stared at the outlines, his mouth dropping open in shock.

“Great God!” Sneed exclaimed, taking in the outlines. “Spirits from the other side!”

“Other side of the universe.” Serayah said, glancing at him before looking back at Gwyneth.

“Pity us. Pity the Gelth.” The vapored beings said in the voices of two children with Gwyneth. “There is so little time. Help us.”

“What do you want us to do?” The Doctor asked calmly.

“The Rift.” The Gelth and Gwyneth replied in unison. “Take the girl to the Rift. Make the bridge.”

“What for?” the Doctor asked with a frown.

“We are so very few - the last of our kind. We face extinction.” The Gelth replied with Gwyneth.

“Why, what happened?” Serayah asked concerned.

“Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came.” The Gelth explained.

“War? What war?” Dickens asked, speaking up for the first time since the Gelth appeared.

“The Time War.” Serayah and the Doctor exchanged sad looks as Rose glanced at them. “The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state.”

“So that’s why you need the corpses.” The Doctor stated.

“We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us.”

“But we can’t.” Rose protested.

“Why not?” the Time Lord asked, turning to look at her.

“It's not… I mean, it's not…” Rose stuttered, trying and failing to find an explanation to her knee-jerk response.

“Not decent? Not polite?” The Doctor asked her. “It could save their lives.”

“Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth.”

With their final plea, the Gelth disappeared back into the gas lamps as Gwyneth collapsed across the table.

“Gwyneth?” Rose called, her and Serayah standing up and walking over to the unconscious girl.

Rose helped the unconscious girl up from the table top and held her while Serayah knelt next to her, checking her pulse.

“All true.” Dickens muttered faintly. “It’s all true.”

“She’s all right.” Serayah said after a few seconds, standing up gracefully. “She’s just unconscious from the link.” She turned to Sneed, “Is there somewhere she can rest? Somewhere that I can still keep an eye on her?”

“A-aye madam.” Sneed stuttered, finding his voice. “There is the chaise longue by the wall.”

She nodded and turned to her husband. “ _Annwyl_ , can you take her and put her on it so that she’ll be comfortable?”

The Doctor nodded and picked up the girl in his arms, carrying her to the chaise and laying her down on it. Serayah sat on the edge of the chaise while Rose argued with the Doctor about using Gwyneth as the Gelth had asked. When they both looked at Serayah, she said that she was staying out of the argument because she herself, was of two minds as it was. When they finally stopped arguing, Rose went to the chaise and knelt next to Gwyneth, who had gone from complete unconsciousness to a more sleeping state in indication that she would wake shortly, while the Doctor explained what had happened to Sneed and Dickens. Sneed, who had been standing as the Doctor explained, sat back down at the table, while Dickens went for a bottle of Sherry and poured himself a generous serving before taking a large sip as he stood by the fireplace. Serayah poured a helping for herself as well and stood beside the Doctor against a wall, taking small sips of her drink.

A few minutes later, Gwyneth woke up with a confused look on her face.

“It’s alright.” Rose soothed, as the girl moved to sit up. “You just sleep.”

“But my angels, miss...” Gwyneth said weakly. “They came didn’t they? They need me?”

“They do need you, Gwyneth.” The Doctor agreed. “You're they're only chance of survival.”

“I've told you, leave her alone.” Rose snapped, turning and glaring at him. “She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles.” She took a goblet of water and handed it to Gwyneth. “Drink this.”

Gwyneth took small sips as the Doctor sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall as Serayah rubbed his arm reassuringly.

“Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?” Sneed asked, still very confused.

“Aliens.”

“Like foreigners, you mean?” Sneed asked.

“Pretty foreign, yes.” Serayah said. “From up there.” She gestured upwards.

“Brecon?” Sneed asked in surprise, eyebrows raised.

“Close.” The Doctor said. “And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes.”

“Which is why they need the girl.” Dickens concluded.

“They’re not having her.” Rose growled before Dickens even finished his sentence.

“But she can help. Living on the Rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through.” The Doctor explained, trying to convince Rose that Gwyneth was the only one who can save the Gelth.

“Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers.” Dickens said, his expression crossed between fascinated and incredulous as he moved to sit at the table.

“Good system.” Serayah pointed out.

“It might work.” The Doctor added.

“You can't let them run around inside of dead people.” Rose protested, standing up and walking over to the Doctor and Serayah.

“Why not?” the Doctor asked. “It’s like recycling.”

“Seriously though, you can't.” Rose snapped.

“Seriously though, I can.” The Doctor snapped back.

“It's just wrong.” Rose protested passionately. “Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death.”

“Do you carry a donor card?” The Doctor asked, turning to face her as the rest of them watched the argument that was similar to the one that had occurred while Gwyneth was unconscious.

“That’s different.” Rose said, deflating slightly. “That’s-”

“It is different, yeah. It’s a different morality.” The Doctor snapped at her with a growl. “Get used to it or go home.” Rose looked away with a sigh.

“You heard what they said.” Serayah said gently, putting her small hand on the taller girl’s arm. “Time is short.”

“I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying.” The Doctor added in explanation.

“I don’t care.” Rose said adamantly, shaking her head. “They’re not using her.”

“Don’t I get a say, miss?” Gwyneth asked Rose softly, sitting up on the chaise.

“Look…” Rose said, turning to look at the young girl. “You don’t understand what’s going on.”

“You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid.” Gwyneth said to her with a wry smile.

“That’s not fair.” Rose protested, shaking her head.

“It's true, though.” Gwyneth said, looking at the blonde earnestly. “Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me.” She turned to the Doctor. “Doctor, what do I have to do?”

“You don't _have_ to do anything.” Serayah told her gently.

“They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me.”

The Doctor smiled as Rose tightened her jaw in anger and Serayah let out a sigh. She was getting a bad feeling that she couldn’t explain.

“We need to find the Rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other.” He walked towards the table were the two human men were sitting. “Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?”

“That would be the morgue.” Sneed replied after a few moments of consideration.

“No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?” Rose muttered just loud enough for the three men to hear as her and Serayah sat on either side of Gwyneth on the chaise, making them look at her.

Not waiting any longer, they stood up and made their way to the basement morgue where the Rift was at its strongest point. Sneed opened the lock and stood back as they all walked in to the cold room, several recently deceased bodies lying on metal tables with white sheets covering them.

“Urgh. Talk about Bleak House.” The Doctor commented, taking in the room as Serayah walked beside him.

“The thing is, Doctor, Serayah, the Gelth don't succeed,” Rose said, coming to stand in of them as they looked at her. “‘Cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869.”

“Time's in flux, changing every second.” The Doctor told her. “Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing.”

“Doctor, Professor, I think the room is getting colder.” Dickens said slowly.

They looked around and noticed the dropping temperature, as whispers became louder.

“Here they come.” Serayah said, as a Gelth came out of a gas lamp and stood beneath a stone archway.

“You've come to help.” The Gelth said in a child-like voice. “Praise the Doctor. Praise the Professor. Praise them.”

“Promise you won't hurt her.” Rose pleaded as the Gelth continued.

“Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth.”

The Doctor and Serayah walked forwards, stopping directly in front of the Gelth.

“We'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?” The Doctor told the Gelth.

“My angels. I can help them live.” Gwyneth said.

“Okay, where's the weak point?” Serayah asked, glancing at Gwyneth before looking back at the arch.

“Here, beneath the arch.”

”Beneath the arch.” Gwyneth repeated, moving to stand beneath the arch, the gaseous Gelth floating behind her.

“You don’t have to do this.” Rose pleaded with the girl, standing in front of her and squeezing her hands.

“My angels.” Gwyneth said, putting her hands on Rose’s face.

“Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!” The Gelth said as Rose stepped back from the archway.

“Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!” Gwyneth said, her gaze unfocused.

“Bridgehead establishing.”

“Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!”

“It is begun. The bridge is made.” Gwyneth opened her mouth with a gasp as a blue gaseous form came out. “She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend.” The Gelth said as the sweet blue apparition turned flaming red with sharp teeth, its voice hardening and deepening. “The Gelth will come through in force.”

“You said that you were few in number.” Dickens said, his hands clenched into fists.

“A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses.” The Gelth said as the cadavers on the metal tables got up as they became possessed by the Gelth.

“Oh, Gwyneth… stop this!’ Sneed pleaded with an unresponsive Gwyneth who was standing beneath the arch in a wide-eyed daze. “Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you.”

“Mister Sneed, get back!” Serayah, watching as Sneed tried pleading with the girl, called out in warning as a Gelth-possessed corpse grabbed him from behind.

The Doctor pulled Serayah and Rose away from the zooming Gelth and Dickens stepped backwards in alarm. The possessed corpse snapped Sneed’s neck, and they watched in horror as a zooming Gelth inhabit his body through his mouth. Once the Gelth was inside him, the previous corpse moved back as Sneed raised his head and looked at them with blank ice-blue eyes.

“I think it’s gone a little bit wrong.” The Doctor pointed out obviously.

“Really, Eta? You think?” Serayah exclaimed looking at him incredulously.

“I have joined the legions of the Gelth.” Sneed said, his voice coming out as an echo. “Come, march with us.”

“No.” Dickens breathed in fear.

“We need bodies. All of you... Dead. The human race…. Dead.” The Gelth said in unison as they slowly walked them.

“Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!” The Doctor called, Rose and Serayah behind him, as they slowly walked backwards.

“Four more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth.”

The possessed Sneed backs the three time-travelers up against a metal gate.

“Doctor, I can't... I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so…” Dickens cried out in terror as the Doctor opened the metal gate and closed it, keeping the Gelth from being able to reach them.

“Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth.”  The possessed corpses reached their hands through the gate in an attempt to reach them, but they stepped back and out of their reach.

“I trusted you. I pitied you!” the Doctor told them angrily as Serayah and Rose, on either side of him, clutched his arms tightly.

“We don't want your pity. We want this world and all its flesh.” The Gelth replied in unison.

“Not while I'm alive.” The Doctor growled.

“Then live no more.”

“But I can't die. Tell me I can't.” Rose pleaded. “I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?”

“I am so sorry.” Serayah said softly, looking at her with sorrow-filled eyes.

“But it’s 1869.” Rose protested. “How can I die now?”

“Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape.” The Doctor explained. “You can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th and it's all our fault. We brought you here.”

“It's not your fault.” Rose said. “I wanted to come.”

“What about us?” Serayah pointed out. “We saw the Fall of Troy, World War Five.”

“I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party.” The Doctor added. “Now I'm going to die in a dungeon… in Cardiff!” He tailed off in dismay.

“It's not just dying. We'll become one of them.” Rose pointed out softly as they looked at the Gelth that tried to get them through the grate. “Professor, what about your powers?” Rose asked suddenly, looking at the alien woman. “You had used a fireball when we were on Platform One. Can’t you use it again?”

“I might be able to, but not from here. We would have to leave the alcove.” Serayah said, gesturing to the alcove they were in. “If I go out there, than there will be no going back.”

“Okay. We go down fighting, yeah?” Rose said, looking between them both.

“Yeah.” The Doctor replied.

“Together?” Rose asked, linking her fingers with his.

“Yeah.” Serayah said, as she inter-locked her fingers with her husbands’.

“I’m so glad I met you.” The Doctor admitted sincerely.

“Me, too.” Rose replied, looking up at him with a smile.

“I love you.” He said, turning to Serayah, who gave him a radiant smile.

“I love you, too.”

Serayah let go of his hand and moved forward to blast the gate. She was just about to form a fireball when Dickens ran in, a handkerchief held against his mouth and nose.

“Doctor! Professor!” he yelled. “Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!”

“What are you doing?” Serayah asked with a frown, lowering her hands.

“Turn it all on.” He ran to a lamp and turned off the flame. “Flood the place!”

“Brilliant. Gas.” The Doctor breathed, his eyes wide as he realized what Dickens’ was suggesting.

“What, so we choke to death instead?” Rose asked, incredulous.

“Am I correct, Doctor?” Dickens asked, turning off another lamp. “These creatures are gaseous.” He covered his mouth with the handkerchief again as gas began filling the room.

“Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air - like poison from a wound!” The Doctor explained as the corpses left them and turned around.

“I hope… oh Lord.” Dickens breathed as the corpses began stumbling towards him. “I hope that this theory will be validated soon… if not immediately.”

“Plenty more!” The Doctor exclaimed as he ripped a gas pipe from the wall.

Almost immediately, the corpses went rigid as the Gelth left the corpses with high-pitched shrieks. As soon as the Gelth left them, the corpses collapsed on the ground in heaps.

“It’s working.” Dickens said as the Doctor, Serayah and Rose left the alcove.

“Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels.” The Doctor said loudly to her.

“Liars?” Gwyneth asked in a dazed voice.

“Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same.” The Doctor said to her as Rose covered her face with her hand. “They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!”

“I can’t breathe.” Rose choked, her hand still on her mouth.

“Charles, get her out.” Serayah told the author, who moved to take Rose’s arm.

“I’m not leaving her!’ Rose cried, shaking Dickens’ arm off.

“They're too strong.” Gwyneth told them.

“Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the Rift.” Serayah said firmly, yet softly

“I can't send them back.” Gwyneth repeated through clenched teeth. “But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here.” She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a box of matches. “Get out.”

“You can't!” Rose cried out running to her, only to be held back by the Doctor.

“Leave this place!” Gwyneth demanded pleadingly.

“Rose, get out. Go now.” The Doctor told her as she continued to struggle against him.

“We won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!” Serayah said, tugging her towards Dickens, who grabbed the blonde’s arms and pulled her out of the morgue.

The Doctor held his hand out to Gwyneth and said, “Leave that to us.”

When she didn’t move, Serayah reached up and put a hand on her neck, feeling for the girl’s pulse, only to feel nothing. The Doctor and Serayah exchanged sorrow-filled looks.

“I’m sorry.” He said sadly, kissing her forehead as Serayah squeezed her cold hands.

“Thank you.” She told the servant girl with tear in her eyes, before the two turn and ran out of the basement, Serayah in front of the Doctor.

Gwyneth slowly opened the matchbox and took out a match. The Gelth swirled around her as Serayah and the Doctor ran through the house towards the front door. She lit the match as the Doctor and Serayah run outside, flying across the street as the house exploded in flames. The Doctor held Serayah in his arms and shielded her from the blast as much as possible.

Rose and Dickens ran over to them as they stood up, brushing the debris off their hands and turned to look at the flaming house. They turned back to Rose, who looked at them with wide sad eyes as she took in the distinct lack of the servant girls’ presence.

“She didn’t make it.” Rose said softly, not as a question, but rather as a fact.

“I'm sorry. She closed the Rift.” The Doctor said softly, sorrow in his voice as he held Serayah close and looked at the blaze.

“At such a cost.” Dickens said, his voice equally soft as he looked at the blaze. “The poor child.”

“We did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes.” Serayah explained softly.

“What do you mean?” Rose asked confused, looking between the two aliens as Dicken turned to look at them.

“I think she was dead from the moment she stood in that arch.” The Doctor admitted.

“But she can't have... She spoke to us.” Rose protested, “She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?”

“’There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ Even for you, Doctor, Professor.” Dickens said before either alien could reply to Rose’s question.

They turned back to watch the blazing house.

“She saved the world.” Rose said softly. “A servant girl. No one will ever know.”

“ _We_ will know.” Serayah said softly, reaching out and taking Rose’s hand in her smaller one, squeezing it gently.

“Come on, we should get going.” The Doctor said softly after a few minutes.

Serayah and Rose nodded and the group of four began walking down the street, the Doctor with his arm around Serayah. They walked in silence until they reached the TARDIS.

“Right then, Charlie boy,” the Doctor said, taking the key out of his pocket. “I've just got to go into my…” he gestured to the box. “er, shed. Won't be long.”

“What are you going to do know?” Rose asked Dickens as the Doctor looked at the two of them, the key in the slot.

“I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital.” He spoke with excitement, his eyes bright.

“You’ve cheered up.” The Doctor commented to him with a smile, stepping back from the TARDIS.

“Exceedingly!” Dickens agreed with a chuckle. “This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor, Professor. I'm inspired. I must write about them.”

“Do you think that's wise?” Rose asked.

“I shall be subtle… at first.” Dickens reassured her. “‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. “The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals”. I can spread the word, tell the truth.”

“Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic.” The Doctor said, shaking the legendary author’s hand before turning back to the TARDIS and unlocking the door.

 “It was nice to meet you.” Serayah said with a radiant smile as she shook his hand and stepped back behind her husband.

“Bye, then, and thanks.” Rose said, shaking the man’s hand as well before reaching out and kissing his cheek.

“Oh, my dear… How modern.” Dickens said bashfully, a slight blush grazing his cheeks at the blonde’s bold move. “Thank you, but, I don't understand… In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?”

“You’ll see. In the shed.” The Doctor replied, as he opened the door and moved to enter.

“Upon my soul, Doctor,” Dickens said, causing them to pause and look at him as he continued. “It’s one riddle after another with you and your wife. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this... Who are you two?”

Rose looked at them, wondering what reply they would give him.

“Just friends, passing through.” Serayah replied with a smile after a moment’s pause.

“But you have such knowledge of future times…” Dickens said before continuing hesitantly, “I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books, Doctor, Professor… do they last?”

“Oh yes!” the Doctor replied with a bright smile.

“For how long?”

“Forever.” Serayah said softly, with a gentle smile.

Dickens’ smiled at them, though they could see he didn’t entirely believe them but was grateful they had answered him.

“Right. Shed.” The Doctor said with a chuckle, gesturing with his thumb to their transport. “Come on, Rose, Aya.” He turned back to the TARDIS and opened the door as Rose and Serayah moved to follow him.

“In the box? All three of you?” Dickens asked in incredulous surprise.

“Down boy.” Serayah said with a smirk on her face.

“See you.” The Doctor said, entering the TARDIS, followed by the two women.

“Doesn’t that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?” Rose asked, shutting the door behind her as the Doctor walked up to the console and Serayah removed her heels and walked over to the console beside her husband.

“In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story.” Serayah replied as Rose walked over to the Doctor.

“Oh, no. He was so nice.” Rose said softly as the three of them watched Dickens on the monitor.

“But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life.” The Doctor reminded her gently. “And he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise.”

He pressed a few buttons on the console as the three of them exchanged smiles. Outside, Dickens watched the TARDIS dematerialize with astonished eyes. He laughed with wondrous excitement and walked through the alley and to the main street.

He could hear a choir singing ‘Hark the Herald Angels’ as he walked, enjoying the cold night air.

“Merry Christmas, sir.” A man called to him.

“Merry Christmas to you.” Dickens’ replied joyously before crying out loudly. “God bless us, every one!”


	5. Aliens of London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Serayah take Rose back to her home, but they arrive a year after she left. Her mother Jackie is furious with the two aliens (particularly the Doctor), and Mickey has been suspected of murdering Rose. Rose, Serayah and the Doctor witness a spaceship crash into Big Ben and fall into the River Thames. The Doctor and Serayah suspect that this is a trick and discover that the ship was launched from Earth, and that the pilot is a pig, modified by alien technology. The Prime Minister cannot be located, and is replaced by Joseph Green, while Margaret Blaine and Oliver Charles, other high-ranking members of the government, are also called. The group is revealed to be Slitheen, an alien family who have compressed themselves into human "suits".

**Season 1 Episode 4 - Aliens of London**

The TARDIS materialized at the Powell Estate, and her three passengers went out in to the daylight. Rose was once again wearing her jeans, t-shirt and sweatshirt, while Serayah had changed into a white tank top showing her stomach, a layered white and floral patterned full skirt that reached her ankles, a pair of 5” nude colored sandals (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/33214115981037625/>) with a white leather jacket on top to ward of the slight London chill and a small white cross-body wallet - purse (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/511651207641643913/>) slung across her chest. The front part of her was braided back into a crown, keeping it out of the way except for a few strands framing her face, with the rest tumbling down her back in loose curls (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879476989471/>). The Doctor was wearing his usual black trousers and leather jacket, with a dark navy blue jumper.

Serayah and the Doctor leaned against the TARDIS as Rose looked around the Estate.

“How long have I been gone?” she asked curiously, turning to look at them.

“About twelve hours.” The Doctor replied with a smile, crossing his arms and legs as Rose chuckled at the reply.

“Right, I won't be long.” Rose said, walking off in the direction of the flats. “I just want to see my mum.”

“What are you going to tell her?” Serayah asked, her arms crossed.

“I don’t know.” Rose replied with a shrug, glancing back at them as she stopped. “I've been to the year 5 billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours?” the Doctor snorted as Rose shook her head. “No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later.” She waved at them and began walking before glancing back with a warning. “Oh, don't you disappear.”

She ran towards the flats as the couple walked around the small area as they waited for Rose.

“ _Annwyl._ ” Serayah said softly, spotting an old poster half-stuck on a concrete pillar. “Look.”

They went over to the pillar and looked at the poster exchanging wide-eyed looks.

It was a missing person’s poster, with a photo of a smiling Rose, next to the date she had last been seen, 6th March 2005. The two ran back to the TARDIS.

“What happened?” Serayah asked frantically. “We should have only been gone for 12 hours. Not long enough for her to have been missed, especially not long enough for a search to be called for her.”

“I don’t know.” The Doctor replied, looking at the monitor and reading the Universal Time Date. “Oh, my Rassilon.” He breathed. “We’ve got to get Rose.”

“What is it?” She asked with a frown, looking at the date as well. “Oh, goddess. Let’s go.”

The two ran out of the TARDIS, and up the stairs to the Tyler’s flat. They ran inside the flat in time to see Jackie hug Rose tightly as the same posters were piled on nearly every surface of the flat.

“It's not 12 hours, it's 12 months.” The Doctor said softly, as Rose and Jackie pulled apart and looked at them. “You've been gone a whole year.” The Doctor gave an apologetic chuckle. “Sorry.”

Rose looked at the couple in shock as Jackie looked at her daughter in astonishment. Soon enough, after Jackie changed out of her dressing gown into proper clothes, the astonishment gave way to fury as Jackie couldn’t get a straight response from her daughter about where she had been for the past year, and phoned for a policeman.

“The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling!” Jackie yelled at Rose, who was sitting on a sofa as the Doctor and Serayah stood beside her. “What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer.” She turned to the policeman who was sitting on the other sofa. “You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling.”

Jackie stood beside the policeman and crossed her arms as she started angrily at Rose.

“That's what I was doing.” Rose protested softly.

“When your passport’s still in the drawer?” Jackie yelled pointing towards the drawer she was referring to. “It's just one lie after another!”

“I meant to phone, I really did.” Rose said softly. “I just… I forgot.”

“What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here?” Jackie asked loudly, and began pacing. “I just don't believe you.” She turned to Rose and asked pleadingly, “Why won't you tell me where you've been?”

“Actually, it’s our fault.” The Doctor spoke up, making the policeman and Jackie turn to him and Serayah. “We sort of er, employed Rose as our Companion.” He gave the two humans a smile.

“When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?” the policeman asked, looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor, Rose and Serayah looked at each other.

“No!” they said in unison. The Doctor continued, “Besides, I’m married to her” he gestured to Serayah who was perched on the arm of Rose’s sofa. “And she’ll happily rip my balls off if I even considered anything of the sort.”

Serayah smiled sweetly at the Doctor’s statement as Jackie walked up to him.

“Then what is it?” she demanded angrily to him, not seeing Serayah as a threat to her daughter the way she saw him. “Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? 40? 45? What, did you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?”

“I _am_ a Doctor.” He insisted.

“Prove it.” She said. “Stitch this, mate!”

Jackie slapped him, hard, making him stumble backward with a groan as Serayah started laughing, nearly falling off the arm and held only because of Rose’s grip on her hand. As she got her laughter under control, Rose and Jackie went into the kitchen and reconciled with each other amid plenty of tears.

“My poor baby.” Serayah crooned softly, still highly amused as she removed her jacket and tossed it over the back of the sofa.

“Do you have to find this funny?” he asked her with a frown.

“Yeah.” She replied with a smile, nodding and earning a poke in the side from him making her squirm.

A few minutes later, Rose walked out of the kitchen and to her room, emerging a short while later dressed in a pink t-shirt, jeans and trainers.

“I’m going up to the roof.” Rose called and left the flat, followed by the Doctor and Serayah.

The three walked up to the roof in silence and the two women perched on the wall as the Doctor leaned back with Serayah’s legs on either side of his shoulders, his arms folded.

“I can’t tell her.” Rose said after a few minutes of silence. “I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year. Was it good?” she turned to the couple.

“Middling.” The Doctor replied shrugging.

“You’re so useless.” Rose said, sighing and shaking her head.

“Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?” Serayah asked, looking at the blonde.

“I don't know.” Rose replied, looking at them. “I can't do that to her again, though.”

“Well, she's not coming with us.” The Doctor said adamantly.

“No chance.” Rose said, as she and Serayah burst out laughing. “She slapped you!” Rose said after the two of them calmed down.

“900 years of time and space, and he’s never been slapped by someone's mother.” Serayah said with a giggle, nudging his slightly as she added to him, “Though, you were slapped by my sister. When we told everyone that we were in love with each other.”

He nodded in remembrance as he put a hand to his cheek. “It hurt!” he pouted.

“You're so gay.” Rose said with a chuckle, before turning to look at them. “When you say 900 years…”

“That’s our age.” The Doctor said with a nod.

“You’re 900 years old.” Rose repeated in disbelief.

“Yes.” Serayah nodded.

“My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap.” Rose commented as she looked away. She jumped of the ledge with a groan and changed topics. “Every conversation with you two just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist.”

There is the sound of a deep horn and, turning to it, they see a spaceship trailing black smoke coming towards them. Rose and the Doctor crouched as Serayah lay flat on her back as the spaceship passed overhead, narrowly missing their heads and head for the city.

The ship narrowly miss Tower Bridge, weave around St. Paul, and then, with a nasty back-fire and splutter, take out a portion of Big Ben and dive for the Thames, crashing into the water with a splash.

They stood up in surprise, Serayah jumping off the wall, as they watched as a plume of black smoke rose into the air on the horizon.

“Oh, that’s just not fair.” Rose muttered with a shake of her head as Serayah and the Doctor laugh, taking her hand and running towards the action.

On the street, it is complete mayhem. The army has closed off the roads. Much to the annoyance of the drivers as they stuck their heads out of their windows or got out of the cars. There were horns being honked and people yelling at the soldiers told irritated drivers to stay back.

The Doctor, Rose and Serayah ran between the cars, coming to a stop not far from one of the army tanks and a pair of soldiers.

“It’s blocked off.” The Doctor pointed out as they came to a stop.

“We're miles from the centre. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down.” Rose added looking around and panting.

“I know. I can't believe we’re here to see this.” The Doctor said excitedly, pulling Serayah into a one-armed excited hug. “This is fantastic!”

“Did either of you know this was going to happen?” Rose asked them, looking between the two.

“Nope.” They replied in unison.

“Do you two recognise the ship?”

“Nope!”

“Do you know why it crashed?”

“Nope!” they grinned at her.

“Oh, I'm so glad I've got you.” She muttered sarcastically.

“I bet you are. This is what we travel for, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us.” Serayah said passionately, not catching Rose’s sarcasm, her statement punctuated by nods from the Doctor, who was still had an arm around her.

“Well, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS.” Rose said.

“Hmm, better not.” The Doctor declined. “They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. And we really don't want to shove another one on top.”

“Yeah, but yours looks like a big blue box. No one's going to notice.” Rose pointed out, confused by the refusal.

“You'd be surprised.” Serayah said to her. “Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me. The TARDIS stays where it is.”

“So history's happening and we're stuck here.” Rose summarized.

“Yes, we are.” The Doctor nodded.

“We could always do what everybody else does.” Rose suggested, making them look at her questioningly. “We could watch it on TV.”

The couple looked at each other and shrugged. The three of them ran back to the flat and Rose turned the TV on before sitting down on one sofa as the Doctor sat on another and Serayah perched on the arm as they watched News 24 on scene.

_“Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control widespread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene.”_

The three of them watched intently, Serayah and the Doctor more so, as the newscaster appears on screen.

“ _The police are urging the public not to panic. There's a help line number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family.”_

The Doctor changed it to a US news Channel, AMNN.

_“The military are on the lookout for more spaceships. Until then, all flights in North American air space have been grounded.”_

He switched the channel back to News 24.

_“The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find.”_

Back to AMNN

_“The President will address the nation live from the White House, but the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies.”_

Jackie brought a mug of coffee in to the living room for Rose and her friend Ru Chan, but not for the Doctor or Serayah.

“You’ve broken your mother’s heart.” Ru Chan angrily scolded Rose, who sighed as she took a sip of coffee.

“Either I make them welcome or I run the risk of never seeing you again.” Jackie commented, picking up the phone.

“I cradled her like a child!” Ru exclaimed to Rose.

“Oi, we’re trying to listen!” The Doctor exclaimed to the two ranting women, who gave him nasty looks.

On the TV, News 24 cut to outside 10 Downing Street.

_“…His current whereabouts. News is just coming in. We can go to Tom at the Embankment.”_

The news cut to the Embankment.

_“They've found a body.”_

The Doctor and Serayah raised their eyebrows as they watched the report.

_“It's unconfirmed, but I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore.”_

The small gathering at the flat rapidly turned into a welcome home party for Rose, with wine being served.

Serayah and the Doctor glanced at the growing crowd and shook their heads as they turned back to the TV, watching intently as Rose had a completely exasperated look on her face as friends and neighbours alternated between berating her for not telling anyone were she was and welcoming her back.

_“A body of some sort has been found inside the wreckage of the spacecraft.”_

“Oh, guess who asked me out.” Jackie called out, handing a bottle of wine to one of the guests and sitting down on the sofa. “Billy Crewe.”

The Doctor raised his eyebrow before shaking his head and turning back to the TV as a toddler climbed onto his lap.

_“Brought to the nearest shore. Unconfirmed reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live here in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary, the whereabouts is yet unknown. The roads in Central London are being…”_

The channel changed a few times before settling on Blue Peter.

_“And when you've stuck your fins on, you can cover the whole lot in buttercream.”_

The toddler laughed as he wrestled the remote from the Doctor before it fell to the floor.

_“Oh, look at that. Then ice it any colour you want. Here's one I made a little bit earlier. And look at that, your very own spaceship ready to eat. And for something a little extra special…”_

The Doctor tightened his grip on the child before picking up the remote and turning it back to News 24, outside Albion Hospital.

_“Albion Hospital. We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here, Albion Hospital. The road's closed off. It's the closest to the river.”_

The toddler hopped of the Doctor’s lap and stood in front of the TV, blocking the view.

“Go to the side.” The Doctor told him, pointing to the side. “Go on.”

Serayah slapped his shoulder and hopped off the arm rest, crouching next to the now frowning toddler.

“What’s your name?” she asked in a gentle voice, years of being a parent ingrained in her. “I'm the Professor.”

“I’m Joey.” He said with a smile, looking at her with his thumb in his mouth.

“Well, Joey, that’s not a very handsome look on your face.” Serayah commented as she stood up, moving to the side with Joey. “Let’s see if we can turn that frown,” she picked him up, tossed him into the air, caught him and flipped him upside down, holding him tightly by the legs. “Upside down!” he let out peals of laughter, joined by Serayah’s own laughter. She turned him back right side up and hugged him tightly, a wide smile still on his face. “Now there’s the beautiful smile I was looking for.” She said, pulling back from the hug as they sat back down, this time on the floor next to the Doctor’s legs.

“What did I miss?” she asked him quietly, seeing the news had switched back to Number 10.

“General Asquith is at the Hospital and the patients have been moved out to the streets.”

She nodded and turned back to the TV, Joey leaning against her side as he played with several strands of her long hair.

 _“Mystery still surrounds the whereabouts of the Prime Minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition are criticising his lack of leadership, and... Hold on.”_ An official car pulled up in front of Number 10 and a portly man got up, briefly glancing at the media crowd before entering the building. _“Oh, that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now.”_

Several hours later, it’s dark when the Doctor and Serayah slip out of the crowded flat and walk toward the staircase. Rose, seeing them leave ran out after them.

“And where do you think you two are going?” she asked, making them turn to look at her.

“Nowhere.” The Doctor replied with a shrug.

“It's just a bit human in there for him.” Serayah added in explanation. “History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price.”

“Exactly. We’re going off on a wander, that's all.”

“Right - there's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering.” Rose said, looking at them disbelievingly.

“Nothing to do with the two of us. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. It's perfect.” The Doctor said to her earnestly.

“So…?”

“So maybe this is it! First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. We’re not interfering ‘cause you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand!” The Doctor said with a chuckle, making Rose laugh as Serayah smiled radiantly.

“You don't need us. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mother.” Serayah said gently. “And you can tell us whether you want to continue traveling with us or not.”

They turned to leave.

“Promise you won't disappear?” Rose asked, making them stop and look at her.

The Doctor and Serayah looked at each other for a moment.

“Tell you what.” Serayah said, rummaging through her purse and pulling out a key, “TARDIS key.” She handed it to the blonde with a smile.

“It’s about time you had one.” The Doctor said. “See you later!”

“Besides, I left my jacket in the flat.” Serayah added to Rose, smiling. “I’ll have to come back for it, won’t I?”

Rose smiled back and the couple turned, walking towards the stairwell as Rose watched them go holding the key in her hand. They exited the building and walked towards the TARDIS as several people partied on the balconies of the Estate flats.

They entered the TARDIS, not seeing the ‘Bad Wolf’ graffiti on the side. The hurried to the console and began fiddling with the controls, moving in unison around each other, smiling as the TARDIS took off into the Vortex. A few seconds into the flight, the TARDIS let them know that she was _not_ happy. They whirled around the console, pressing buttons and switching levers before the Doctor finally picks up a large hammer and slams it on the console a few times and the shaking evened out. The two smiled at each other as the TARDIS landed, materializing in a store room in Albion Hospital.

Exiting the TARDIS, they walked right into a large stack of boxes and supplies. With careful manoeuvring, they went to the room door and the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the lock.

“Shh.” He whispered to the device as it buzzed, unlocking the door.

Opening it, the couple walked into a room filled with Red Berets – the Parachute Regiment. They stared at each other in shock for a moment before the marines grabbed their weapons and point them at the pair.

The couple looked at each other before looking back at the marines and smiling widely.

“Hi,” Serayah said brightly, waving her hand at them. “I’m -.”

There was a loud scream, cutting the beautiful woman off.

“Defence plan Delta!” the Doctor yelled, running through the group of Marines.

“Come on. Move! Move!” Serayah yelled as they led the Marines out of the room.

“It sounded like the scream came from the Mortuary.” One of the Marines said, receiving a nod from the couple as they ran.

They entered the Mortuary to find a dainty oriental woman in a lab coat cowering behind the desk with a cut on her head. One of the Cold Storage doors’ was wide open. The Doctor and Serayah crouched down next to her.

“It’s alive!” She gasped when she saw them.

The Doctor looked up at the Marines. “Spread out.” He ordered. “Tell the perimeter it's a lockdown.”

“My god. It's still alive.” The doctor said faintly, as the Doctor took her hands in her own larger ones.

“Do it!” Serayah ordered, when she saw the men still standing there. They ran out of the room to do as ordered.

“I swear it was dead.” The oriental woman breathed in shock.

“Coma, shock, hibernation, anything. What does it look like?” The Doctor asked her gently, when they heard a clattering come from the other side of the room.

“It’s still here.” The Doctor said softly.

He stood up as Serayah put her arms around the shaking human. The Doctor walked silently to the door and gestured for the soldier outside to come in and kneel by the two women.

“I’m the Professor, by the way.” Serayah said softly to the young woman in an attempt to distract ehr. “That’s the Doctor, my husband.” She gestured to the man, who was now crouched on all fours and crawling towards the sound. “What’s your name?”

“T-Toshiko.” She stuttered softly, barely louder than a whisper. “Toshiko Sato.”

“Nice to meet you.” Serayah said with a smile as the Doctor peaked around a filing cabinet as a pig in a space suit poked its own head out with a snort.

“Hello.” The Doctor breathed as soon as it came into sight, only for it to squeal and begin to run on its’ hind legs.

The soldier stood and aimed his gun at the pig as the Doctor crawled backwards towards them.

“Don’t shoot!” Serayah ordered, seeing the pig run passed them and into the corridor.

The Doctor stood up and ran out of the room, following the squealing pig. Serayah followed suit, gesturing for the marine to stay with Dr. Sato. For a few moments, the only sound that could be heard was the squealing pig and Serayah’s high heels against the tiled floor. Just as they passed through a plastic curtain separating the Mortuary from the rest of the hospital, there was a loud gunshot.

The Doctor and Serayah came to a stop as the pig collapsed backward, breathing weakly, while the Marine who shot it still aiming his weapon at the poor creature.

“What did you do that for? It was scared.” the Doctor yelled walking towards the pig. He knelt next to the pig and repeated in a calmer voice. “It was scared!”

Serayah, as she saw the pig struggle to breathe and her husband gently running the back of his fingers across its snout with pain in his eyes, marched up to the Marine and slapped him, _hard_. She turned and walked over to the pig and sat down across from the Doctor as the pig’s eyes fluttered closed and its chest stopped moving as it died.

“It wasn’t just scared.” Serayah said finally, her voice, despite soft, reverberated through the corridor. “It was in pain.” She glared at the Marine, who looks contrite, “It was scared and in pain, and you just shot him because you didn’t understand him.”

The Doctor reached over the pig and took her hand, rubbing the back of her palm above her slightly glowing tattoos, as she struggled to control her anger as a slight wind picked up in the hallway, making the Marines look around in confusion. she breathed deeply, calming her anger as the slight wind died down. the tattoos stopped glowing as soon as the wind died down.

“Come on.” He told her gently. “Let’s get it back to the Mortuary. We need to find out what’s going on.”

She nodded and stood up, the Doctor gently picking up the pig in his arms and walking back towards the Mortuary, Serayah following after a final glare at the marines.

They entered the cold room and found Dr. Sato standing by the table with the soldier standing not far behind her. The Doctor gently placed the pig on the metal table and stepped back as the soldier left the room.

“This isn’t an alien.” The Doctor told her softly. “It’s just a pig.”

“I just assumed that's what aliens look like, but you're saying it's an ordinary pig from Earth.” Dr. Sato said, clutching her clipboard to her chest.

“More like a mermaid.” Serayah corrected. “Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat, gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on, then they've strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must have been terrified. They have taken this animal and turned it into a joke.”

“So it's a fake, a pretend, like the mermaid.” Dr. Sato said slowly. “But the technology augmenting its brain, it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien. Aliens are faking aliens. But why would they do that? Doctor? Professor?” she turned to find that the two of them had disappeared. She put the clipboard on a shelf and ran out into the corridor. “Doctor? Professor?”

She looked around as she heard the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing. A few minutes later, they rematerialized on the Estate, the same place they had been before.

The Doctor and Serayah were looking at the monitor when Rose entered.

“Alright, so we lied.” The Doctor said, glancing at Rose before turning back to the screen. “We went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben.” He scoffed. “Come on, so I thought let's go and have a look…”

“My mum’s here.” Rose interrupted him, making him groan.

“Oh, that's _just_ what we need.” He said exasperatedly before adding warningly, “Don't you dare make this place domestic.”

“You ruined my life, Doctor, Professor.” Mickey said angrily, casing the two aliens to spin around and look at him. “They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you.”

“See what I mean?” The Doctor asked, spinning around to face Rose. “Domestic!” he turned back to the monitor as Serayah shook her head at his never-ending lack of tact.

“I bet you don't even remember my name.” Mickey shouted.

“Ricky.” The Doctor replied, turning to look at him.

“It’s Mickey.” Mickey ground out.

“No, it's Ricky.”

“I think I know my own name.”

“You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?”

As the two men bickered, Serayah shook her head and turned back to Rose.

“Is that my jacket?” she asked the blonde, looking at the white leather jacket Rose was wearing.

“Yeah.” She replied. “I just grabbed it and ran when Mickey said you had left.”

“It’s fine.” Serayah said with a smile. “It looks good on you.”

Rose smiled back as Jackie, who had been looking between the two arguing men while Serayah and Rose talked as they ignored the two, turned and ran out of the TARDIS.

“Mum, don’t!” Rose yelled out to her, before turning to the Doctor and Serayah, “Don’t go anywhere.” She turned to Mickey, “Don’t start a fight!” she ran out after the older woman, yelling before running back into the TARDIS and coming up to the console. “That was a real spaceship?”

“Yes.” Serayah replied, as they turned back to the monitor with Mickey behind them.

“So it was all a pack of lies?” Rose asked with a frown. “What is it, then? Are they invading?”

“Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert.” Mickey pointed out off-handed.

“Good point!” the Doctor exclaimed mildly impressed, glancing at Mickey before turning back to the monitor. “So, what're they up to?”

A short while later, the Doctor was under the console, fiddling with the controls as Mickey watched while Rose and Serayah sat on the jump seat talking quietly, mostly Serayah comforting Rose who was torn between staying with her mother and going with them as they traveled.

“So, what're you doing down there?” Mickey asked the Doctor, looking down at the alien beneath the console.

“Ricky.” The Doctor corrected around the screwdriver clenched between his teeth.

“Mickey.” Mickey insisted.

“Rickey.” The Doctor said, taking the screwdriver out of his mouth and holding it in his hand. “If I were to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?”

“I suppose not.” Mickey replied with a shrug.

Serayah and Rose looked at each other and sighed, getting up and walking to the controls.

“Well, shut it, then.” He snapped at the human.

 “Some friend you've got.” Mickey muttered to Rose, who looked at him sadly. Serayah walked around the console and crouched next to her husband to give the pair some privacy.

“Why do you patronize him this way?” Serayah asked him after a moment of watching him work, making him turn to her.

“It’s fun.” He replied.

“Is that all it is?” she asked, looking him in the eyes. “Just for the sake of watching his reactions? Or is it because he cares about her?”

“Why are you asking?” he frowned. “Are you… jealous?”

“No.” her voice was strong, with no hesitation. “I have absolutely no reason to be.” The Time Lord returned to tinkering.

“Good. Because I love you and no one else.” He paused in his work and turned to her. “I have since we were Tots running through the fields. Even if I didn’t know it until we were older.”

Serayah smiled radiantly at him. “And I love you and no other, except our family.” She giggled lightly.

“Except our family.” He agreed, tugging on a lock of her hair gently before returning to his work. “Got it!” he exclaimed a few seconds later, unknowingly making Rose and Mickey jump apart, as he and Serayah stood up. “Patched in the radar,” Rose moved around the console to join the couple, “looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship.” They looked at trajectory on the monitor. “Here we go.” When nothing was shown, he slapped the top a few times. “Hold on. Come on.” He pointed at the monitor as he continued, the two women on either side of him, “That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except. Hold on. See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed.”

“What does that mean?” Rose asked.

“It means that it came from Earth in the first place.” Serayah explained. “It went up and came back down.” The three of them exchanged looks. “Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived, they've been here for a while.”

“The question is, what have they been doing?” The Doctor asked, crossing his arms as they looked at each other.

The Doctor began channel-hopping on the monitor, Mickey peeking over their shoulders.

“How many channels do you get?” Mickey asked.

“All the basic packages.” The Doctor replied, crossing his arms.

“You get the sports channels?” Mickey asked in excitement, looking at the Doctor with wide-eyes before he turned back to the monitor.

“Yes, I get the football.” The Doctor replied rolling his eyes as they looked at the monitor. “Hold on. We know that lot.” He pointed to the monitor as Serayah looked as well, Rose and Mickey stepping back slightly to give her some space.

_“It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space.”_

“UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.” Serayah said as she watched the screen. “Good people.”

“How do you two know them?” Rose asked, looking between the two.

“'Cos they’ve worked for them.” Mickey said, making Rose turn to look at him as he looked at the coupled who were still looking at the screen. “Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor, Professor. I read up on you two. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's their names, followed by a list of the dead.”

“That’s nice. Good boy, Ricky.” The Doctor patronized him, making Serayah roll her eyes and poke him.

“If you know them, why don't you go and help?” Rose asked.

“They wouldn't recognise us, especially not me.” The Doctor walked around the console, pressing buttons as he continued. “We've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep these aliens out of the mix.” He pointed to himself and Serayah. “We’re going undercover. And er, we'd better keep the TARDIS out of sight.” He grabbed Serayah’s hand pulled her along as he headed towards the door. “Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving.”

“Where to?” Mickey asked with a frown as he and Rose followed the two of them.

“The roads are clearing.” Serayah replied as the Doctor opened the door. “Let's go and have a look at that spaceship.”

They walked out of the TARDIS and straight into a helicopter spotlight.

“Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads.” A loud voice called over a bullhorn as police cars pulled up with sirens blaring.

The group looked up at the spotlight and then at each other in confusion. Saxon armoured personnel carriers also surrounded them as the soldiers got down and surrounded them, weapons aimed and ready. Mickey, terrified at what was happening, ran away with a few soldiers chasing him while Jackie ran out of the flats towards them.

“Rose!” she screamed as a pair of soldiers grabbed her and held her back. “Rose!”

Mickey hid behind some dustbins as the soldiers ran past him.

“Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest.” The police called over the bullhorn as the Doctor, Serayah and Rose did so, the Doctor’s and Serayah’s fingers still interlocked.

“Take me to your leader!” The Doctor called out cheerfully with a large smile on his mace, causing Serayah to face-palm in exasperation with her free hand.

They were taken to an official car and a soldier held the door open as the Doctor got in, followed by the Serayah and Rose.

“This is a bit posh.” Rose said as she sat next to Serayah. “If I knew it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago.”

“We’re not being arrested, we’re being escorted.” Serayah told her as the Doctor looked at the blonde with a wide grin on his face.

“Were to?” Rose asked, turning slightly to look at them

“Where’d you think?” the Doctor asked. “Downing Street.”

He chuckled at the gobsmacked expression on Rose’s face as Serayah giggled.

“You’re kidding.” Rose said disbelievingly, a laugh escaping her.

“Nope.” He laughed.

“10 Downing Street?” Rose asked in disbelief.

“That’s the one.” Serayah replied, smiling at the blonde.

“Oh my God!” Rose squealed in excitement. “I’m going to 10 Downing Street?” she paused for a second. “How come?”

“I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years we've visited this planet a lot of times, and we've been, er, noticed.”

“And now they need you?” Rose asked.

“Like they said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge.” Serayah explained.

“And who's one of the biggest experts of the lot?” The Doctor added with a smug grin.

”Patrick Moore?” Rose teased with a grin as Serayah burst out laughing.

“Apart from him.” The Doctor looked at Rose affronted.

“Oh, don’t you just love it.” Rose teased him as Serayah slowly stopped laughing and leaned against her husband, who put his arm around her.

“I’m telling you. Lloyd George, he used to drink me under the table.” The Doctor said in reminiscence.

“Yes, I remember your hangovers.” Serayah muttered softly.

“Who's the Prime Minister now?” The Doctor asked Rose with a slight frown.

“How should I know?” Rose replied, looking out the window as their escort pulled up in front of 10 Downing Street. “I’ve missed a year.”

As the car stopped, the Doctor got out with a smile, holding his hand out to Serayah as she got out as well. Rose got out from her side as the cameras flashed rapidly and reporters shouted questions at them

The Doctor waved at the cameras with his free hand happily, a wide grin on his face as Serayah smiled indulgently at his antics. They walked around the back of the car and climbed up the steps to the door.

“Oh, my God.” Rose breathed excitedly as she followed them inside.

They were taken to the waiting room that was crowded with several UNIT officers with armed guards at the entrances. Rose looked around in excitement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene?” a young man called out as he entered the room. “Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right,” he walked towards the door and held up a pair of ID cards as he continued, “and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times.” As the room slowly cleared out, the officials entering the Briefing Room, he stopped in front of the Doctor, Serayah and Rose, handing the cards to the two aliens. “Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companion doesn't have clearance.” He gestured to Rose.

“We don’t go anywhere without her.” Serayah said, looping the card hang around her neck as a middle-aged woman slowly came up behind the young man and sopped, listening to them.

“You two are the Code Nine, not her.” The young man said. “I'm sorry, Doctor, Professor. It is the Doctor and the Professor, isn't it?” he received a nod from the Doctor. “She'll have to stay outside.”

“She’s staying with us.” The Doctor said.

“Look, even _I_ don’t have clearance to go in there.” The man said. “I can't let her in and that's a fact.”

“It's all right. You two go.” Rose said to them with a small smile.

“Excuse me. Are you the Doctor and the Professor?” the middle-aged woman asked, looking at the two aliens.

“Yes.” Serayah replied with a smile at the taller woman.

“Not now. We're busy.” The man looked at her in exasperation. “Can't you go home?”

“I just need a word in private.” The woman insisted to him as the Doctor and Serayah turned to Rose.

“You’re sure?” The Doctor asked their Companion, receiving a nod and a smile in response. “Okay.” The turned to walk away. “Don’t get in any trouble.” He cautioned her as the couple walked in to the Briefing Room.

They followed the large group of officials who took seats at the tables that were set in two rows facing the front, with single table at the front facing the room. Serayah picked up the booklet of prepared flyers and sat down and began rapidly reading through it, the Doctor reading one her shoulder.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, please.” General Asquith called, turning everyone’s attention to him. “As you can see from the summaries in front of you, the ship had one porcine occupant…”

“Of course, the really interesting bit happened three days ago,” The Doctor interrupted walking down the aisle towards the front of the room and stopping in front of Asquith and the Acting Prime Minister. “See, filed away under Any Other Business. The North Sea. A satellite detected a signal, a little blip of radiation, at one hundred fathoms, like there's something down there.” Serayah stood up and walked to the front of the room as well, hopping up onto one of the tables and crossing her legs as the Doctor spoke. “You were just about to investigate and the next thing you know, this happens. Spaceships, pigs, massive diversion. From what?” There was no reply from the assembled group. “If aliens fake an alien crash and an alien pilot, what do they get?”

“Us. They get us.” Serayah said after a moment, the room completely silent as the two aliens’ eyes widened in realization. “It's not a diversion, it's a trap. This is all about us.”

“Exactly.” The Doctor said, taking over and walking up the aisle as everyone’s eyes followed him. “Alien experts. The only people with knowledge how to fight them gathered together in one room.”

Behind him, Acting Minister Green farted, making the Doctor raise his eyebrow and turn to him.

“Excuse me, do you mind not farting while we’re saving the world?” he asked the official sarcastically.

“Would you rather silent but deadly?” Green asked with a smirk, leaning his crossed arms on the table.

Green looked on as General Asquith who removed his cap and unzipped his forehead. The room filled with flashing blue electric light as Green laughed. The Doctor and Serayah stared, as the other officials had gobsmacked expressions on their faces as a green alien wriggled out of the skin suit, wriggling its three talon fingers in relief as it stood at nearly eight feet tall with incongruous large black eyes and small baby-like faces.

“We are the Slitheen.” The alien who had once been General Asquith said.

“Thank you all for wearing your ID cards.” Green said, standing up and removing a remote activation switch from his breast pocket. “They'll help to identify the bodies.”

He pressed the activation button. The ID cards emitted electrical shocks to their wearers, making them all scream. Serayah, who had been sitting on the table, fell as the currents rippled through them, her pain of being electrified doubled as she felt her husband riddled with the currents as well. The doctor fell to his knees as he screamed, reaching out a hand to his wife as she screamed from the double dose.


	6. World War Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Serayah learn that the Slitheen are not invading Earth, but rather raiding it for commercial gain. The Slitheen claim there is a threat to national security and request that the United Nations release the nuclear activation code, so they can strike down a dangerous ship hovering over London. The Doctor and Serayah speculate they will fire at other countries, start World War III, and sell the remaining radioactive weapons. The Doctor helps Mickey to fire a non-nuclear missile at 10 Downing Street to destroy the Slitheen gathered there. The Doctor, Serayah, Rose, and MP Harriet Jones manage to hide in a reinforced cabinet and survive. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Serayah have earned Jackie's trust and she allows Rose to continue travelling with him.

**Season 1 Episode 5 - World War Three**

With a pained gasp, the Doctor ripped off his ID card before reaching out and ripping Serayah’s as well, the small woman panting from exertion. He stood up, the two electrified cards clenched tightly in his fist.

“Deadly to human’s, maybe.” He gasped, walking forward and pushing it against the collar around the revealed Slitheen’s neck, enveloping it and Green with the electricity.

They growl as thy felt the powerful currents rip through them as the Doctor grabs a panting Serayah by the waist and runs out of the Briefing Room, now filled with the dead officials. Slamming the door shut behind them, the Doctor gently put Serayah on her feet, holding her ass he caught her breath.

“I’m alright, _Annwyl_.” She said softly, her brow furrowed in pain. “We have other things to worry about right now.”

He nodded and turned to the armed police guards in the Entrance Hall.

“Oi! If you want aliens, you've got them. They're inside Downing Street.” He clapped his hands and ran, Serayah taking his hand and running alongside him. “Come on!” the police followed them back inside the Briefing Room.

The ran back into the Briefing Room just as the Slitheen, once again as General Asquith, and Minister Green turn to them.

“Where have you been?” Green demanded to know, his voice taking on a terrified tone. “I called for help. I sounded the alarm.” The police looked at the officials and split up, checking each for any signs of life. “There was this lightening, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed.”

“I think they’re all dead.” One of them said in a Welsh accent.

“That's what I'm saying!” Green exclaimed as he pointed to Serayah and the Doctor as his voice took on a shaken and terrified tone. “They did it! That man and woman there.”

“I think you’ll find that the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise.” The Doctor told the police guard as the Minister crossed his arms in apparent incredulousness. The Doctor turned to an officer that was standing next to him and took in the unimpressed look on the armed man’s face. “That’s never going to work, is it?”

“No.” the officer replied, shaking his head.

“Fair enough.” Serayah said as she and the Doctor turned and bolted out of the room, followed by the guard.

They ran down the corridor only to come to a stop as another group of police cornered them from the other side, leaving them trapped in the small corridor with two groups of heavily armed guards pointing their weapons at them.

They both raised their hands as the guards encircled them.

“Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols,” Asquith said as he stopped between two guards, Green behind him. “I order you to execute this man and woman!”

“Well, now…” the Doctor started with a nervous smile, Serayah right beside him, as the guards cocked their guns. “Yes, you see, er, the thing is… if I was you, if I was going to execute some people by backing them against the wall, between you and me, little word of advice….” There was a ‘Ding!’ as a door opened behind them. “Don't stand them against the lift!”

With a wide grin, the two of them stepped back into the lift and, as the guards moved forward to follow them, used the sonic screwdriver to close the doors and go up.

They waited patiently as the lift took them up, opening on the first floor just as a Slitheen came to a stop in front of them.

The Slitheen roared as a frantic Rose and Harriett tried to open a locked door.

“Hello!” The Doctor said cheerfully as Serayah waved, distracting the Slitheen just long enough for Rose and Harriett to enter the room.

The Doctor used the screwdriver to close the lift doors once more and take them further up as the Slitheen roared in anger. The lift opened on the second floor, the couple poking their heads out to look both ways before running out and turning a corner. They ran down a circular staircase as the guards continued their search for them and, hearing the lift sound its arrival, they hid behind an open door, the Doctor with his back against a pillar and Serayah curling her tiny frame into his larger one.

“It does us good to hunt.” They heard one of the Slitheen say as they got out of the lift. “Purifies the blood.”

“We’ll keep this floor quarantined as out last hunting ground before the final phase.” The other said as they walked through the door and passed the Doctor and Serayah’s hiding spot.

“This is bad.” Serayah muttered softly as they came out from behind the door as soon as the pair of Slitheen were out of site.

“We’ve been in worse situations.” The Doctor told his wife, his voice equally soft. At her raised eye-brow, he added, “None coming to mind quite yet.”

“M-hmm.” She muttered, shaking her head as she spotted a fire extinguisher. “Eta, look.” She pointed at it and looked at him. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Concentrated Carbon Dioxide.” He said with a wide smile. “You’re brilliant!”

“I know.” She smiled as he took the extinguisher and followed the sound of Rose’s scream to the Sitting Room.

They burst in just as one of the Slitheen was about to strike Harriett, coming to as stop behind the sofa side-by-side as the Doctor sprayed the two male Slitheen with the extinguisher’s contents.

“Out! With us!” Serayah yelled at the two women as Rose pulled the curtain she was hiding behind over the Slitheen directly in front of her.

The blonde ran over to Serayah’s side, joined by Harriett on the man’s other side.

“Who the hell are you?” the Doctor asked, glancing at the middle-aged woman before turning back to spraying the Slitheen.

“Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North.” She replied, almost automatically not looking away from the roaring Slitheen.

“Nice to meet you.” Serayah said with a smile, leaning around her husband to look at her.

“Likewise,” she replied, not looking away.

A few seconds later, the carbon dioxide in the tank ran out and the group of four ran out of the room, the Doctor dropping the tank on the ground as he slammed the door shut behind them.

“We need to head to the Cabinet Room.” Serayah yelled as they ran through the corridor and turned a corner.

“The Emergency Protocols are in there.” Harriett said as she ran behind the couple, Rose bringing up the rear. “They give instructions for aliens.”

“Harriett Jones, I like you.” The Doctor proclaimed as they ran down the corridor, changing directions and heading for the Cabinet Rooms.

“I like you, too.” Harriett replied with a smile in her voice as they ran through several rooms and corridors, chased by the Slitheen.

A few minutes of running, they reached the door to the Cabinet Room, the Doctor taking out his screwdriver and sonicking the door open. They ran inside, Harriett grabbing the Red Box containing the Emergency Protocols. Glancing out of the open door and seeing the Slitheen approaching, Serayah grabbed a decanter of alcohol and passed it to the Doctor. He stood in the doorway, and held it and pointed his whirring screwdriver at it.

“One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off.”

The Slitheen backed away a few steps.

“Right then.” The Doctor said, lowering the decanter as Serayah stood next to him. “Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?”

“They’re aliens.” Harriett replied helpfully from behind the couple.

“Yes, we got that, thank you.” Serayah said, glancing up at the woman.

“Who are you, if not human?” one of the Slitheen asked.

“Who’s not human?” Harriett asked, confused.

“They’re not human.” Rose replied, pointing to the couple.

“They’re not human?” Harriett repeated, pointing to the couple’s backs and taking in their appearances.

The man in black trousers, dark jumper and well-worn black leather jacket and the woman in a small white tank top that showed part of her stomach, a floral skirt and high heels with incredibly long hair.

“Can we have a bit of hush?” the Doctor asked, turning to glance at Rose and a surprise Harriett.

“Sorry.” Harriett said softly.

“So, what’s the plan?” Serayah asked the Slitheen.

“But he's got a Northern accent.” Harriett pointed out softly to Rose. “And she has a Welsh accent.”

“Lots of planets have a north, and accent adaptation.” Rose replied, repeating what they had told her when she had asked about their accents.

“I said hush.” The Doctor reminded the two humans behind them. “Come on.” He raised the decanter and pointed his screwdriver at it in warning. “You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?”

“Why would we invade this Godforsaken rock?” one of the male Slitheen asked.

“Then something’s brought the Slitheen race here.” Serayah pointed out. “What is it?”

“The Slitheen race?” one of the males repeated.

“Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname.” The other male told them, making the couple stare at them in mild shock. “Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service.”

“Didn’t see that coming.” Serayah muttered, overcoming her shock.

“So, you’re a family?” the Doctor said.

“A family business.” The male, Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen, replied.

“Then you're out to make a profit.” The Doctor said in realization. “How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?”

“Ah, excuse me?” the other male asked after a moment’s pause. “Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?”

“Is that what I said?” the Doctor asked with a slight frown, looking at Serayah.

“Yes, _Annwyl,_ that is what you said.” Serayah replied, nodding her head.

“You’re making it up!” the male said outraged.

“Oh, well! Nice try.” The Doctor said with a sheepish grin, handing the decanter over his shoulder to Harriett. “Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it.”

 “You pass it to the left first.” She said, clutching the Red Box to her chest.

“Sorry.” He said, passing the decanter to Serayah who handed it to Rose.

“Thanks.” Rose muttered, taking the decanter.

“Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter.” The male Slitheen said, walking forwards and flexing his talons.

“Don't you think we should run?” Rose aske, seeing that neither of her friends were inclined to do so as the man just crossed his arms with a grin and the woman gave a bright smile.

“Fascinating history, Downing Street.” The Doctor said, in full lecture mode. “2000 years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man.”

“Lovely voice.” Serayah added.

“1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson.”

The Doctor lifted a small panel on the wall by the door and pressed a button. Metal shutters crashed shut at every window and door.

“Installed in 1991.” The Doctor continued his lecture, a large grin on his face, as they turned to the two humans staring at them. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in.”

“How do we get out?” Rose asked.

“Ah.” The Doctor lost his grin as Serayah took another decanter from the table and poured herself a drink.

She was about to take a sip when she noticed a leg sticking out from under the table. Putting the drink down, she walked over and crouched by the leg.

“Hello?” she called, turning the other’s attention to her.

She shook the leg to gain a response, and not receiving anything, she pulled at the leg, dragging the body out. She gasped when she saw who it was, the young man from earlier, who had told them that Rose wasn’t allowed in the Briefing Room with them, the secretary.

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder as he lifted the young man’s body and dragged him towards a small store room, Serayah following him.

“What’s his name?” the Doctor asked, dragging the body inside the room.

“Who?” Harriett asked, sitting at the table and looking through the Emergency Protocols contained in the Red Box.

“Him, the secretary.” Serayah said, crouching next to the body as Harriett stood up and walked to them, stopping in the doorway of the small room.

“I don't know.” Harriett replied sadly, shaking her head. “I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee.” She walked back to the table and sat down. “I never asked his name.”

“I’m so sorry.” Serayah whispered to the dead young man, crossing his arms and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead before she walked out of the store room and picking up her drink.

“Sorry.” The Doctor said to the body as well, standing up and walking out behind his wife. “Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?”

“No.” Rose replied, running her hands beneath a lamp table as she spoke. “This place is antique!” she stood up straight. “What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?”

“He's too slim.” The Doctor replied, running his screwdriver along the metal shutters that encased them. “They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans.”

“But the Slitheen are about eight feet.” Rose pointed out. “How do they fit inside?”

”That's the device around their necks.” Serayah replied, sitting on the table and taking a sip from her drink. “Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange.”

“Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller.” Rose muttered.

“Excuse me, people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes.” Harriett scolded her, shaking her head.

“Sorry… you get used to this stuff when you’re friends with them.” The blonde pointed to the two aliens in the room, one sitting on the table drinking and the other running a screwdriver along the metal shutters.

“Well that’s a strange friendship.” Harriett commented.

“Harriet Jones.” The Doctor said with a thoughtful frown on his face as he stopped in front of the fireplace and looked at the MP’s back. “I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?”

“Oh, hardly.” She scoffed.

“Rings a bell, though.” Serayah said, just as thoughtfully. “Harriett Jones.”

“Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs.” Harriett let out a frustrated breath.

“Hasn’t it got, like, defense codes and things?” Rose asked, coming around the table and stopping next to Harriett. “Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?”

“You're a very violent young woman.” Harriett commented, looking up at the blonde.

“I’m serious.” Rose said. “We could.”

“Well, there's nothing like that in here.” The middle-aged MP said, turning back to the Box. “Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations.”

“Say that again.” Serayah requested, looking at the human with a frown on her face.

“What, about the codes?” Harriett asked, looking at her as the Doctor turned and looked at the human as well.

“Anything. All of it.” He said, getting an agreeing nod from Serayah.

“Well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN.” Harriett said after a moment of thought.

“Like that’s ever stopped them.” Rose muttered.

“Exactly, given our past record.” Harriett said with a nod, before adding, “And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN. Is it important?”

She looked between the Doctor and Serayah, who both had thoughtful frowns on their faces as they thought about what they had just been told.

“Everything is important.”

“If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted.” Harriett muttered, before adding as an after-thought. “Listen to me. I'm saying ‘Slitheen’ as if it's normal.”

“You get used to it.” Serayah said reassuringly, glancing at the woman.

“What _do_ they want, though?” Rose asked.

“Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World.” The Doctor said, pacing.

“They're out to make money.” Serayah said, letting her legs dangle of the edge of the table. “That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset.”

“Like what, gold?” Harriett asked. “Oil? Water?”

 “You're very good at this.” The Doctor said to her, smiling.

“Thank you.” Harriett smiled back bashfully.

“Harriett Jones. Why do we know that name?” Serayah muttered with a frown, something about the brunette ringing bell in her head that she just couldn’t figure out.

There was the sound of a phone beeping.

“Oh, that’s me.” Rose said, taking her phone out of her pocket.

“But we're sealed off.” Harriett said confused, looking at Rose. “How did you get a signal?”

“He zapped it. Super phone.” Rose replied, looking down at her phone.

“Then we can phone for help.” Harriett said, looking at the Doctor and Serayah. “You must have contacts.”

“Dead downstairs, yeah.” The Doctor replied.

“It’s Mickey.” Rose said, looking at her phone.

“Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy.” The Doctor snapped, groaning at the thought of having to deal with Mickey.

“Yeah, he's not so stupid after all.” Rose said, holding up her phone and showing them the photo he had taken of the Slitheen.

“Call him, find out how he was able to get that photograph.” Serayah said, getting a nod from the blonde who did exactly that.

A few minutes later, Rose was listening to Mickey rant on the other end about his encounter with the Slitheen, her mother in the background.

“Is she all right, though?” Rose asked him. “Don't put her on, just tell me.”

The Doctor reached out and took the phone before Rose could get a response from Mickey.

“Is that Ricky?” he asked into the phone. “Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer.”

_“It's Mickey, and why should I?”_

“Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you.”

The Doctor proceeded to walk Mickey through hacking into UNIT.

_“It says password.”_ Mickey said a few minutes later.

The Doctor plugged the phone into the conference phone speaker.

“Say again.” Serayah said as the Doctor put the phone on the table.

_“It’s asking for the password.”_

“Buffalo. Two Fs, one L.” the Doctor replied.

_“So, what’s that website?”_ came Jackie’s voice on the other end.

_“All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark.”_

“Mickey, you were born in the dark!” The Doctor snapped.

“ _Annwyl_ , leave him alone.” Serayah sighed.

_“Thank you. Password again.”_

“Just repeat it every time.” Serayah told him.

“Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?” the Doctor pondered out loud.

“You said to gather the experts, to kill them.” Harriett reminded them, holding a glass of port.

“That lot would have gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London.” Serayah pointed out, taking a large sip from her glass.

“The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on Red alert.” Rose said. “What would they do that for?”

_“Oh, listen to her.”_ Jackie said sarcastically.

“At least I'm trying.” Rose said defensively.

_“Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind.”_ Jackie snapped. _“Since that man and woman walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth.”_

“I told you what happened.” Rose said, rolling her eyes.

_“I'm talking to them!”_ Jackie snapped. _“'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor, Professor. And maybe you two get off on it, and maybe you both think it's all clever and smart, but both of you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?”_

Serayah and the Doctor looked at each other, knowing exactly where Jackie’s fear was coming from.

“I'm fine.” Rose said with a sigh.

_“Is she safe?”_ Jackie asked them, ignoring her daughter. _“Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?”_ they were silent, the two aliens looking at each other and not knowing how to answer the worried mother. _“Well, what's the answer?”_

The two of them were silent.

_“We’re in.”_ Came Mickey’s voice over the phone.

“Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that.”

They waited as Mickey did so.

_“What is it?”_

“The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let us work out what it's saying.”

They listened to oscilloscope reading coming through the speaker.

“It's some sort of message.” Serayah said quietly with a frown.

“What's it say?” Rose asked, just as quietly.

“Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating.” The Doctor replied. There was the sound of the doorbell ringing. “Hush!”

_“That's not me.”_ Mickey said, before adding, presumably to Jackie. _“Go and see who that is.”_

_“It's three o'clock in the morning.”_ They heard Jackie say.

_“Well, go and tell them that.”_ Rose could practically hear Mickey rolling his eyes.

“It's beaming out into space.” Serayah said. “Who's it for?”

_“They’ve found us.”_ Mickey told them

“Mickey, we need that signal.” The Doctor said earnestly.

“Never mind the signal,” Rose snapped at him before yelling into the speaker. “Get out! Mum, just get out! Get out!”

_“We can't.”_ Mickey said. _“It's by the front door.”_ There was a pause. _“Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us.”_

“There's got to be some way of stopping them!” Harriett yelled. “You're supposed to be the experts, think of something!”

“We’re trying!” Serayah yelled, getting off the table and pacing.

_“I'll take it on, Jackie.”_ They heard Mickey say. _“You just run. Don't look back. Just run.”_

There were sounds of the door splintering.

“That's my mother.” Rose said pleadingly to the two aliens, her eyes wide with fear.

Serayah stopped pacing at looked at Rose.

“Right. If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from.” The Doctor said as he and Serayah stood beside each other, Rose and Harriett on either side of them. “Which planet.”

“So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to 5000 planets within travelling distance.” Serayah continued.

“What else do we know about them? Information!” The Doctor finished as Rose immediately began telling them everything she could think of.

“They're green.” She said.

“Yep, narrows it down.” The Doctor said.

“Good sense of smell.”

“Narrows it down.” Serayah said.

 “They can smell adrenalin.”

“Narrows it down.” The Doctor said.

“The pig technology.” Harriett threw in.

“Narrows it down.” Serayah said, glancing at her.

“The spaceship in the Thames, you guys said slipstream engine?”  Rose said, frowning as she tried to remember.

“Narrows it down.” The Doctor said.

Their minds were running at a rapid pace, absorbing the information and narrowing down the possible planets.

_“It’s getting in!”_ Mickey cried.

“They hunt like it’s a ritual.” Rose added, getting desperate.

“Narrows it down.” Serayah said.

“”Wait a minute. Did you notice?” Harriett asked, elaborating when they looked at her. “When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, er…” she frantically tried to recall the word she was looking for.

“Bad breath!” Rose said.

“That’s it!” Harriett exclaimed.

“Calcium decay!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Now, _that_ narrows it down!”

“We're getting there, Mum!” Rose called into the speaker phone.

“ _Too late!”_ Mickey yelled.

“Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else?” the Doctor began pacing.

“Hyphenated surname.” Serayah added as her eyes widened and she exclaimed. “Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!”

_“Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter.”_ Mickey said sarcastically.

“Get into the kitchen!” Serayah yelled to them.

They heard the Slitheen roaring, banging against the door.

_“My God, it's going to rip us apart!”_ Jackie moaned.

“Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!” the Doctor concluded, yelling directly into the speaker phone.

“Just like Hannibal!” Harriett exclaimed, drawing the parallel.

“Just like Hannibal.” Serayah agreed, turning to Mickey and asking, “Mickey, have you got any vinegar?”

_“How should I know?”_ Mickey asked.

“It’s _your_ kitchen!” The Doctor pointed out.

“ _You_ don’t know what’s in our kitchen!” Serayah told the Time Lord pointedly.

“Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf.” Rose said into the speaker phone, saving the Doctor from having to answer his wife.

_“Oh, give it here.”_ They heard Jackie say, before asking, _“What do you need?”_

“Anything with vinegar!” the Doctor replied urgently.

_“Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs.”_

“And you kissed this man?” Serayah asked Rose with a slightly disgusted look on her face.

Before Rose could respond, they heard the Slitheen break into the kitchen with a load roar. The roar suddenly cut off, leaving them frantically trying to hear what was happening, before there was a loud fart and a bang.

They let out sighs of relief, Serayah sinking against the Doctor.

“Hannibal?” Rose asked Harriett.

“Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar.”

“Oh. Well, there you go then.” The blonde sighed in relief, picking up her glass of port.

They picked up their glasses and toasted the moment.

_“Listen to this.”_ They heard Mickey say to them and they turned to the speaker phone.  _“Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within forty five seconds.”_

“What?” The Doctor frowned, as they looked at each other in confusion.

_“Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction, unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war.”_

“He’s making it up.” The Doctor said, pushing away from the table. “There are no weapons up there. He just invented it.”

“Do you think they'll believe him?” Harriett asked, concerned.

“They did last time.” Rose reminded them.

“That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle.” Serayah said, realization dawning on her face, as she and the Doctor went to the door, sealed by the metal shutters. “They want the whole world panicking, because you all get scared, you lash out.”

“They release the defense code...” Rose started, realization dawning on her face as well.

Rose and Harriett followed the two of them to the door.

“And the Slitheen go nuclear.” The Doctor finished.

“But why?” Harriett asked confused, as the Doctor pressed the button on the wall panel and opened the metal shutters.

The three Slitheen in the Outer Office turned to look at them.

“You get the codes, release the missiles,” The Doctor said as Margaret walked into the office and stood in front of them. “But not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked.”

“And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away.” Margaret said with a smile.

“But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?” Harriett asked with frown.

“Profit.” Serayah replied absently before turning back to the Slitheen. “That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert.”

“The sale of the century.” Margaret informed them, before carrying on to explain. “We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor, Professor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel.”

“At the cost of 5 billion lives.” The Doctor said crossly.

“Bargain!” Margaret said, not at all concerned about the lives they were destroying.

“I give you a choice - leave this planet or my wife and I'll stop you.” The Doctor told them seriously.

Margaret and the three Slitheen behind her laughed.

“What?” Margaret said, laughing. “You two?” her laughter slowed to a stop as she sneered at them. “Trapped in your box?” she began laughing again.

“Yes. Us two.” The Doctor replied as Serayah pressed the button on the panel and closed the metal shutters on the woman’s laughing face.

The night passed slowly, Mickey calling once in a while to inform them that there was nothing new announced.

_“All right, Doctor, Professor. I'm not saying I trust you two, but there must be something you can do.”_ Jackie said over the speaker phone several hours later when Mickey called to inform them about the news cast of the UN meeting in New York for an emergency resolution.

“If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid.” Harriett suggested, looking at the remaining port that was in the decanters.

“Mickey any luck?” Rose called into the speaker phone as Jackie held the mobile out for him to answer.

_“There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail.”_ He replied regretfully.

“Voicemail dooms us all.” Harriett muttered.

“If we could just get out of here.” Rose said frustrated, pushing away from the table and walking around to the other side, pacing.

“There's a way out.” The Doctor said, leaning against a wall with Serayah curled in his arms.

“What?” Rose asked, stopping her pacing and turning to them in surprise.

“There’s always been a way out.” Serayah said.

“Then why don't we use it?” Rose asked.

“Because we can't guarantee your daughter will be safe.” The Doctor said into the speaker phone, pushing off the wall as he and Serayah looked at it.

_“Don't you dare! Whatever it is, don't you dare!”_  Jackie yelled at them, her fear for her daughter echoing through the speaker.

“That's the thing.” Serayah said softly, just loud enough for her to be heard through the phone. “If I don't dare, everyone dies.”

“Do it.” Rose said softly, making them look at her.

“You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?” The Doctor asked, looking at the beautiful blonde.

“Yeah.” Rose replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

_“Please Doctor, Professor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid.”_  Jackie pleaded with them.

“Do you think we don't know that?” the Doctor asked her softly. “Because this is our life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Rose asked them.

“We could save the world, but lose you.” Serayah replied, looking at the blonde with ancient and weary eyes, filled with a pain that Rose didn't understand. "Your mother will have to mourn the passing of her daughter as the world around her celebrates their survival."

“Except it's not your decision, Doctor, Professor. It's mine.” Harriett spoke up, having been silent this whole time as she watched the wide range of emotions play across their faces, including pain and torment.

_“And who the hell are you?”_ Jackie demanded to know.

“Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you… do it.” Harriett said, looking at the Doctor and the Professor.

The couple looked at Rose for a long moment.

“How do we get out?” Rose asked as the Doctor grabbed the Red Box.

“We don’t.” Serayah replied as her husband took the Emergency Protocols out of the Box. “We stay here.”

The Doctor looked through the file as he told Mickey what to do.

“Use the ‘Buffalo’ password. It overrides everything.” The Doctor said once Mickey said he was in.

_“What are you doing?”_ they heard Jackie ask.

_“Hacking into the Royal Navy.”_ Mickey replied before telling the group in Downing Street. “ _We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth.”_

“Right, we need to select a missile.” The Doctor told him.

_“We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defence codes.”_ Mickey reminded them.

“We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile.” Serayah said.

“What’s the first category?” the Doctor asked.

_“Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A.”_

“That’s the one.” The Doctor said. “Select.”

_“I could stop you.”_ They heard Jackie say to Mickey.

They exchanged looks.

_“Do it then.”_ They heard Mickey reply after a moment’s pause.

“You ready for this?” the Doctor asked him, wanting to be sure because there would be no going back.

_“Yeah.”_

“Mickey the Idiot. The world is in your hands.” The Doctor said softly. “Fire.”

“How solid are these?” Harriett asked after the missile had been launched, looking at the metal shuttered walls as she rested her hands on them.

“Not solid enough.” Serayah replied, the Doctor pulling her into his arms and holding her close. “Built for short range attack, nothing this big.”

“All right, now I'm making the decision.” Rose said determinedly, looking around the room. “I'm not going to die. We're going to ride this one out.” She tugged at the door of one of the cupboards, opening it, as she continued her explanation. “It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on.”

Harriett hurried over and began helping Rose empty the cupboard to make room for them to squeeze in.

_“It's on radar.”_ Mickey said a few minutes later, Serayah helping Rose and Harriett. _“Counter defence 556.”_

“Stop them intercepting it.” The Doctor ordered him as Serayah glanced at the speaker.

_“I’m doing in now.”_

“Good boy.”

_“556 neutralised.”_

The Doctor unplugs the mobile as they heard the fire alarm ring through the building. The group of four huddled inside the small cupboard under a shelf, Rose and Harriett on either side of the Doctor, who had Serayah in his lap, his larger body curling around her.

“Nice knowing you three.” Harriett said as Serayah held out her hands for both women to take. “Hannibal!”

There was a loud KaBOOM as the missile hit its target, the cupboards shaking for several tense moments, tossing its occupants about as they tightened their grips on each other. The four occupants screamed as it began rolling the remains of the building, still inside its steel shell.

Once their safety shell stopped rolling and shaking, Serayah created a small ball of fire in her hands and blasted the door off.

“Made in Britain!” Harriett said with a large smile, patting the side of the doorway as she got out and looked around at the wreckage, not bothering to even begin to comprehend the display she had just seen from Serayah.

Serayah, the Doctor and Rose followed Harriett out of the cupboard, the Doctor immediately pulling Serayah in for a deep kiss, before pulling apart and holding her close, relieved that they were alive.

The Welsh Sergeant hurried over as soon as he spotted them. “Are you all right?” he asked, looking at all of them.

Harriett flashed her ID card at him.

“Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North.” He glanced at the card and looked back at her. “I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down.” When he didn’t move, just looked at them in shock, she adds, “Go on, tell the news!”

“Yes, Ma’am.” The Sergeant said, hurrying away.

“Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out.” She gestured to the slightly smoking rubble that surrounded them, small fires in various places. “Oh, Lord.” She looked back at them in surprise. “We haven't even got a Prime Minister!”

“Maybe you should have a go.” The Doctor suggested, his arms around Serayah as she smiled up at the woman.

“Me?” she asked before scoffing. “I'm only a back-bencher.”

“I'd vote for you.” Rose told her seriously.

“Now, don't be silly.” Harriett told her. She pointed towards the approaching emergency personnel, heralded by the approaching sirens. “Look, I'd better go and see if I can help. Hang on!” she carefully made her way down the pile of rubble they were standing on, reaching the street before saying loudly, “We're safe! The Earth is safe!”

Rose, Serayah and the Doctor slowly made their way down as well, the Doctor with his arm around Serayah.

“I thought I knew the name.” the Doctor commented when they reached the street, glancing back at Rose. “Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister.” They stopped and watched as Harriett called the media to her and announced that they were safe. “Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age.”

Giving one last smile to the future Prime Minister’s back, they turned and walked away, heading to the Powell Estate to drop Rose off to see her mother before the couple returned to the TARDIS.

Entering their magnificent ship, the Doctor pulled Serayah in for another deep kiss. She moaned slightly, melting into his embrace and wrapping her arms around his neck. Feeling his tongue slide across her lips, begging for entrance, she opened her mouth and deepened the kiss. He moved one hand to the back of her head, the other tightening around her waist, holding her close to him.

They slowly pulled away, looking into each other’s eyes, just revelling in the fact that they survived once again.

After a few moments, Serayah looked down at herself, taking in her dirtied clothes.

“I’m going to go shower.” She said, before looking up at him coyly through her long lashes. “You going to join me?”

She gave him a sultry grin and turned, running out of the console room. He groaned as he thought about her in the shower, and without another thought ran after her. He caught up to her pretty quickly and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her up and throwing her over his shoulder as he carried her toward their room and en-suite shower.

A long while later, the couple walked back to the console room. The Doctor changed into a fresh pair of black trousers, navy blue jumper, and leather jacket while Serayah was dressed in a white and light pink saree, with a sleeveless blouse that showed off her toned stomach (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879475941104/>). She was barefoot and had her damp hair open and hanging down her back, with a towel around her shoulders to keep her clothes from getting wet.

The Doctor used the TARDIS phone to call Rose as Serayah perched on the console and listened to the conversation.

“Right, we’ll be a couple of hours, then we can go.” He said once the call connected.

“You've got a phone?” Rose asked in incredulous amusement.

“You think we can travel through space and time and we haven't got a phone? Like I said, couple of hours. Ayah’s sending out this dispersal.” He paused as Serayah pressed a few buttons on the console and the wave dispersed. “There you go. That's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up.”

Serayah walked to the other side of the TARDIS, and picked up a touchscreen Samsung Galaxy S6 Android smartphone that won’t be produced for another decade, and used it to call Siani.

_“Jones.”_ Came the lilting Welsh accent on the other end.

“Siani?” Serayah asked.

_“Nana? Is that you?”_

“Yes, _Cariad,_ it’s me. Where are you?” Serayah frowned as she heard yelling in the background. “What’s all that yelling?”

_“I’m at work.”_ Siani sighed. “ _The yelling is the Director and the Captain yelling at each other, again. Are you okay? I heard about what had happened at Downing Street. Where’s Ada?”_

“Yes, we’re all right. Your father’s talking to Rose.” Serayah paused as she listened to the Doctor’s side of the conversation for a moment before telling to her daughter, “Apparently, Rose is trying to convince your father that the two of us sharing a meal with her and her mother would be a good thing.”

_“And I’m guessing Ada’s adamantly refusing?”_ came the amused question on the other end.

“You bet.” Serayah giggled lightly, her heart lifting at hearing her daughter’s voice.

She looked over at her husband and saw that he was hanging up the phone. At his questioning look, she mouthed ‘Siani’ to him and he nodded, holding his hand out for the phone in silent request to speak to their daughter.

“Your father would like to speak to you.” She said into the phone, and receiving a sound of agreement, she put the phone on speaker.

“Hello my Sweet Girl, how are you doing?” he asked.

_“I’m good Ada, how are you?”_

“I’m good, still alive. How’s what’s-his-name?”

_“His name is Salazar, Ada.”_ Siani reminded him exasperatedly. _“I thought you said you liked him when you met him two years ago.”_

“We do like him _Cariad_ , your father’s just winding you up. So, you two have been dating for how long, two years? Three years?”

_“Three years.”_

“Have you talked about getting married?”

“Okay, this is my cue to leave.” The Doctor said before Siani could reply. “I love you Siani.”

_“I love you, too, Ada.”_ Siani laughed.

The Doctor turned and walked away as Serayah and Siani laughed. He would always see Siani as the little girl that chased will-o’-the-wisps in the Scottish Highlands, no matter how old the young woman got.

_“Anyway, Nana, Sal and I haven’t spoken about it.”_ She paused for a moment. _“Honestly, I don’t know about getting married. I love him with all my heart, but our jobs make it difficult to even go on dates. It took three weeks before we were able to even properly finish a dinner date, because we kept on being called back to work.”_

“I know the feeling.” Serayah said. “Your father and I had a similar issue when we worked with UNIT several years ago.” Serayah looked at the phone with a slightly worried frown as she asked, “But have you two been talking about trying to make your relationship work with your demanding schedules?”

_“Yes, definitely.”_ Siani replied firmly. _“It’s the only way we’ve been able to be together for this long, especially given what our work schedules are like and where we work.”_

They spent the next several minutes talking, catching up on what had been missed in their daughter’s life over the past year.

_“Anyway Nana, I’ve got to go. It seems like they’re finally wrapping up their argument.”_ Siani said finally.

_“Okay, I love you. Pass our love to the others, please.”_ Serayah said.

“I love you, too and I will.” Siani said before the two cut the line.

Serayah joined her husband at the console as he removed a CD, put it in a case and put it in his pocket.

“Virus?” She asked him, receiving a nod in reply.

The Doctor and Serayah walked out of the TARDIS, the Doctor looking at a young boy cleaning off the ‘Bad Wolf’ graffiti that he had painted on the day before.

“Good lad.” He said to the boy as Serayah looked over at Mickey who was sitting on a rubbish bin and reading the newspaper. “Graffiti that again and I'll have you. Now, beat it!”

The boy picked up his bucket and ran off as the Doctor turned to his wife and the young human.

“I just went down the shop,” Mickey began. “And I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is.” He held up the Evening Standard newspaper and the headline read ‘Alien Hoax’. “How could they do that? They saw it.”

“They're just not ready.” Serayah said gently to the frustrated young man.

“You're happy to believe in something that's invisible,” The Doctor added. “But if it's staring you in the face, nope, can't see it. There's a scientific explanation for that - you're thick.”

 “We’re just idiots.” Mickey said with a chuckle.

“Well, not all of you.” The Doctor replied, looking at Mickey.

“Yeah?” Mickey asked, looking at the man that constantly patronized him ever since they met.

“Present for you, Mickey.” The Doctor said, taking the CD out of his pocket and handing it to Mickey, who looked at it questioningly.

“It's a virus.” Serayah explained. “Put it online. It'll destroy every mention of the two of us.” She gestured to herself and the Time Lord. “We'll cease to exist.”

“What do you want to do that for?”

“Because you’re right.” The Doctor replied, putting his arms around Serayah. “We _are_ dangerous. We don’t want anybody following us.”

Rose and Jackie came out of the building block and walked over to them.

“How can you say that and then take her with you?” Mickey asked them, referring to Rose.

“You could look after her. Come with us.” Serayah said softly, earnestly as she looked at the brave young man.

“I can't.” Mickey replied regretfully after a moment’s pause. “This life of yours… it's just too much. I… I couldn't do it.” He shook his head sadly before adding, “Don't tell her I said that."

The couple smiled as Rose and Jackie walked up to them. Rose had a large rucksack on her back.

“I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends.” Jackie said to Rose. “I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will.”

“I'm not leaving because of you.” Rose told her mother. “I'm travelling, that's all, and then I'll come back.”

“But it’s not safe.” Jackie repeated, her worry for her beloved daughter seeping out of every pore.

“Mum… if you saw it out there… you'd never stay home.” Rose told the older blonde softly, trying to explain the magnetism of travelling in the TARDIS.

“Got enough stuff?” The Doctor asked sarcastically as Rose took of her rucksack.

“Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment.” She handed him her rucksack as Serayah laughed at her husbands’ expression. “Now I'm signing up. You two are stuck with me.”

She grinned at them as Jackie crossed her arms.

“All these centuries, and you still haven’t realized that we tend to be prepared for any eventuality?” Serayah asked him as Rose turned to Mickey.

“Come with us,” she told him. “There’s plenty of room.”

Mickey looked over Rose’s shoulder at the Doctor. Rose turned to look at him as well.

“No chance. He's a liability, I'm not having him on board.” He said.

“We’d be dead without him.” Rose reminded the Time Lord.

“My decision is final.” The Doctor stated with finality as Mickey gave the couple a small smile of thanks as Rose turned back to him.

“Sorry.” She said apologetically.

Mickey kissed Rose in farewell and stepped back.

“Good luck, yeah.” He said as Rose smiled at him.

“You still can't promise me.” Jackie burst out, looking at the couple. “What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you two, Doctor, Professor, and she's left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away. How long do I wait then?”

“Mum…” Rose said, physically turning the older woman around to face her. “You’re forgetting. It's a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe, and by the time I get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds.” She put her hands on her mother’s shoulders, giving them a gentle shake. “So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds' time, yeah?”

Mother and daughter hugged each other tightly before letting go, Jackie with tears in her eyes. Serayah and the Doctor walked into the TARDIS as Rose followed them, glancing back at her mother and boyfriend. Mickey gave a little wave as Rose entered the TARDIS, the door closing behind her.

The TARDIS dematerialised with the typical grinding noise of her engines and strong breeze. Jackie looked at her watch when the ship completely disappeared.

She looked at her watch with baited breath, glancing briefly at Mickey and the spot the TARDIS had been.

“Ten seconds.” She said softly, turning around and heading back to the flats as Mickey sat on the rubbish bin and resumed reading the newspaper, keeping vigil until Rose returned.


	7. Dalek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS is drawn off course by a signal and Rose, Serayah and the Doctor end up near Salt Lake City, Utah in 2012, in an underground bunker owned by Henry van Statten, a rich collector of alien artefacts. The Doctor and Serayah encounter his one living exhibit, which the two are horrified to discover is a Dalek that survived the Time War; the Dalek is the last survivor of a race of genetically manipulated mutants bound on purging the universe of all non-Dalek life, and the Doctor and Serayah's greatest enemy. One of van Statten's technicians, Adam Mitchell, leads Rose to the Dalek, but she takes pity on it and touches it, allowing it to absorb her DNA and become active. The Dalek kills many soldiers before catching up with Rose, Adam, Serayah and the Doctor. Rose becomes trapped with the Dalek, but it spares her life as it has gained sympathy from Rose's DNA and destroys itself. As the Doctor, Serayah and Rose leave, Adam boards the TARDIS to avoid the closure of van Statten's Vault.

**Season 1 Episode 6 - Dalek**

The TARDIS materialized in a dimly lit and carpeted area filled with display cases. The Doctor opened the door and walked out, followed by Serayah and Rose.

“So, what is it?” Rose asked. “What’s wrong?”

She was wearing a white sleeveless body top, blue denim jeans and a red and white hoody zipped up half-way, with trainers.

“Don’t know.” The Doctor replied, looking around the dimly lit area. “Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course.”

He was wearing his usual attire of black trousers and leather jacket, with an olive green jumper and black shoes.

“Where are we?”

“Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground.” Serayah said, looking around as well.

She was wearing a white long-sleeved top – the sleeves coming down to cover her hands until her knuckles) with a plunging ‘v’ neckline, a black floral patterned mini skirt and black 5” high heeled ankle strap pumps (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/459367230717123953/>). Her long hair was pulled back into a half-pony, with a few tendrils framing her beautiful face.

“And _when_ are we?”

“2012.” The Doctor replied absently as he looked at a display case.

“God, that's so close.” Rose breathed, as she quickly made a few calculations, “So I should be 26.”

Serayah smiled at the blonde as the Doctor found the light switch and flipped it on, making the room brighten considerably.

“Blimey. It's a great big museum.” Rose breathed in amazement.

“An _alien_ museum.” Serayah added. “Someone has a hobby. They must have spent no small fortune on this.” They walked down the aisle between two rows of display cases. “Chunks of meteorite, moon dust.” She pointed to an artefact in one of the cases. “That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship.”

“That's a bit of Slitheen!” Rose exclaimed as she stopped in front one of the cases and looked closer at it. “That's a Slitheen's arm. It's been stuffed!”

“Oh! Look at you.” The Doctor breathed, drawing Rose and Serayah’s attention to one of the cases.

Serayah’s eyes widened as she looked at what it was.

“What is it?” Rose asked, walking over to the couple and looking at the case.

“An old friend of ours - well, enemy.” The Doctor replied, looking at the case.

It was the head of a Cyberman.

“The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit.” Serayah said, before adding as an afterthought, “We’re getting old.”

“Is that where the signal's coming from?” Rose asked, nodding her head at the case.

“No, it's stone dead.” Serayah replied. “The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help.”

The Doctor raised his hand and touched the glass on the Cyberman’s display case, immediately causing alarms to go off. They looked around as armed guards surrounded them from all sides, cutting them off from the TARDIS.

“If someone's collecting aliens,” Rose said softly as the guards aimed their ready weapons at them. “That makes you two Exhibit A.”

The guards led the trio to an office where a young man Rose’s age was showing the man behind the desk a few artefacts. A tall woman with curly hair in a high pony showed them in as the guards positioned themselves along the wall behind them, blocking the way out.

“…and this is the last” he picked up a strangely shaped artefact and gently handed it to the man. “…paid $800,000 for it.”

“What does it do?” the man asked, taking the artefact from the young man.

“Well, you see the tubes on the side?” the young man asked as the older man. “It must be to channel something - I think maybe fuel.”

“I really wouldn’t hold it like that.” The Doctor said, looking at the crass way the man was holding the device.

“Shut it.” The woman ordered him.

“Really, though, that's wrong.” The Doctor insisted, gesturing to the man’s hand.

“Is it dangerous?” the younger man asked.

“No, it just looks silly.” He replied, reaching out for the item and pausing when the guards aimed their weapons at them, firing bolts clicking in indication that the weapons were primed and ready to fire.

The man held a hand up to the guards in silent order to hold their fire. He stood up and handed the item, a small palm-sized object, to the Doctor. He took it and held it gently.

“You just need to be…” he stroked the artefact and it let out a harmonious note. “Delicate.” He played several notes, running his fingers over the surface very softly.

“It’s a musical instrument.” The man said, a wide smile crossing his face.

“And it’s a long way from home.” The Doctor said.

“Here, let me.” The man held out his hand and grabbed the instrument from the Doctor.

He ran his fingers over it, producing a harsh sound that made Serayah wince.

“I did say delicate.” The Doctor reminded him. “It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision.” The man tried again, his touch lightening until he finally got the hang of it.  “Very good.” The Doctor smiled as the man produced a harmonious sound from the instrument. “Quite the expert.”

“As are you.” The man said to the Doctor, casually tossing the instrument aside, where it landed on the floor with a clatter. The Doctor’s smile faded as he saw the careless way the man treated the device. “Who exactly are you?”

“I’m the Doctor.” He replied, he gestured to Serayah, “this is the Professor. Who are you?”

The man looked at Serayah ran his eyes over her body, taking in the stunning appearance.

“Look at you.” He leered, his eyes halting on her bare legs before going up to stop at her chest “Look at you.” He repeated slowly, making Serayah raise her eyebrow as the Doctor held back a smirk, knowing what was coming next.

“Tell me, do you enjoy having sex?” Serayah asked the man dangerously.

“Yes, I do.” He replied, smirking arrogantly at her. “Are you offering?”

Serayah smiled and leaned across the table.

“Keep leering at me and you will never be able to get it up, if you catch my meaning.” She glanced down at his crotch before looking back up at him and glaring fiercely.

The Doctor had to use every ounce of strength to hold back his laughter at the wide-eyed look his tiny wife was receiving from everyone in the room, including Rose who had never seen her in such a manner.

“So,” Serayah stood back and crossed her arms, still glaring at the man. “Like my husband had asked, who are you?”

“Like you don’t know!” The man replied, using cockiness to cover his dismay at being shot down. “We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake!”

“Pretty much sums us up, yeah.” The Doctor replied with a shrug.

“The question is, how did you get in?” the man asked, walking around the table and coming to a stop in front of the Doctor and Serayah. “53 floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplice.” He glanced at Rose, and turned back to the couple. “You're quite a collectors yourselves, she's rather pretty.” 

“She's going to smack you if you keep calling her ‘she’!” Rose snapped, a glare making its way onto her face as well.

“She's English, too!” the man exclaimed, before adding to the young man behind him. “Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy! Got you a girlfriend.”

“This is Mr. Henry Van Statten.” The younger man said to the three intruders.

“And who’s he when he’s at home?” Rose asked.

“Mr. Van Statten owns the internet.” The young man replied.

“Don’t be stupid.” Rose scoffed. “Nobody _owns_ the internet.”

“And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?” the older man, Van Statten, said with a smug grin.

“So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum.” The Doctor stated. “Anything you don't understand, you lock up.”

“And you claim greater knowledge?” Van Statten asked, looking at him.

“We don’t need to make claims.” The Doctor said cockily. “We know how good we are.”

“And yet, I captured you.” Van Statten pointed out. “Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?”

“You tell me.” The Doctor said, all traces of his usual humour gone.

“The cage contains my one living specimen.”

“And what’s that?”

“Like you don’t know.” Van Statten scoffed.

“Show me.”

“You want to see it?” Van Statten asked, slightly mocking.

“Wow, you can practically smell the testosterone.” Serayah commented to Rose, not at all bothering to keep her voice low.

“Goddard.” The curly haired woman looked at Van Statten. “Inform the cage we’re heading down.” Goddard nodded and moved to the side, her hand on her earpiece. “You, English,” he turned to the British young man who looked back with an irritated look on his face. “Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do.” He turned to the couple. “And you, Doctor-and-Professor-With-No-Name, come and see my pet.”

He walked around them to the lift and gestured to the open doors where Goddard already was. Serayah and the Doctor looked at each other and followed Van Statten, Rose following the young British man.

The trip down was done in silence, the Doctor and Serayah silently wondering which race was powerful enough to send a signal to the TARDIS while in the Vortex while Van Statten wondered who the two of them were.

“We’ve tried everything.” Van Statten told them as they entered the outer room. “The creature has shielded itself, but there’s definite signs of life inside.” He pressed a button on a keypad beside the large heavy door, causing it to open slowly.

“Inside? Inside what?” Serayah asked.

“Welcome back, sir.” A technician in full body protective suit said, coming up to them with the suit helmet under one arm. “I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting.”

“Metaltron?” Serayah repeated.

“Thought of it myself.” Van Statten said to them. “Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out its real name.”

“Here, you’d better put these on.” The technician removed his gauntlets and handed them to the Doctor while gesturing for one of the guards to get another pair for Serayah. “The last guy that touched it…” he cocked his head to the side as he continued with a slight smirk. “Burst into flames.”

“We won't touch it, then.” Serayah said, giving the technician a dirty look as Goddard smiled slightly as she heard the woman’s response.

“Go ahead, Doctor, Professor.” Van Statten said, nodding his head to the open door of the Cage. “Impress me.”

The Doctor and Serayah stepped through the door, into the dark chamber, and it slowly closed behind them with a clang and locked.

“Look, I'm sorry about this.” The Doctor said gently to a small blue light that hung in the dark, assuming that to be were the poor creature was. “Mr. Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. We've come to help. I'm the Doctor.”

“I’m the Professor.” Serayah said, also looking at the blue light.

 “Doc-Tor?” it said slowly, two white lights flashing on either side of the blue orb. The Doctor’s and Serayah’s eyes widened in terror. “Pro-Fes-Sor?”

“That’s impossible.” The Doctor breathed in terror as he stepped back slightly, moving in front of Serayah as she clung to his arm in equal terror.

“ _The_ Doc-Tor? _The_ Prof-Fes-Sor?” the Metaltron repeated as the lights came on, revealing the creature that terrified the two ancient beings.

A bad-tempered pepper pot secured with chains.

“Ex-ter-minate! Ex-ter-minate!” the creature cried, as the Doctor and Serayah ran to the door.

 “Let us out! Let us out!” they screamed in unison, banging on the heavy door and glancing back at the chained creature in terror. “Let us out! Let us out!”

“Ex-terminate! You are enemies of the Daleks. You must be destroyed!”

The couple moved back against the wall, the Doctor standing in front of his wife in an attempt to protect her. They watched with wide, terrified eyes as the Dalek’s gun arm twitched, only for nothing to happen.

They looked from the Dalek’s eye stock to the gun arm and back again before glancing at each other in surprise.

“It’s not working.” Serayah pointed out obviously as they stood straight once more.

“It’s not working!” the Doctor repeated with a mocking laugh at the Dalek.

He laughed loudly as the Dalek looked at its impotent weapon.

“Fantastic!” he chortled, walking towards the Dalek. “Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin!” he sneered at the Dalek. “How does it feel?”

“Keep back!” The Dalek ordered, moving backwards, only to be stopped in place by the chains.

They ignored it, running forwards and coming to a stop inches away, staring into its eye-stock.

“What for?” Serayah demanded with a shout. “What are you going to us?” the Doctor began walking around the Cage as Serayah continued, “If you can’t kill what are you good for, _Dalek_?”

“What’s the point of you?” The Doctor asked it, just as loudly. “You’re nothing. What the hell are you here for?”

“I am waiting for orders.” The Dalek replied.

“What does that mean?” Serayah asked.

“I am a soldier.” It replied. “I was bred to receive orders.”

“Well, you’re never gonna get any.” The Doctor replied with a sneer. “Not ever.”

“I demand orders!”

“They’re never going to come!” the Doctor yelled. “Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ship on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second.”

“You lie!”

“We watched it happen.” Serayah said and leaned directly into the eye-stock as she added, “We _made_ it happen.”

“You destroyed us?”

The question had their anger evaporating as they stepped back from the Dalek. Memories washing over them like tidal waves as they remembered the screams and the fire. The pain and despair. The desire for it to just _end_ once and for all. The _guilt_ at what they had done to ensure its end.

“We had no choice.” The Doctor said softly as he turned his back towards the Dalek.

“And what of the Time Lords and the Guardian Confessors?”

“Dead.” Serayah said, just as softly as she turned back to look at the Dalek. “They burnt with you. The end of the Last Great Time War. Everyone lost.”

“And the cowards survived.” The Dalek said.

“Oh, and I caught you little signal.” The Doctor said, his voiced pitched slightly high and mocking. “’Help me’. Poor little thing!”

“But there’s no one else coming, because there’s no one else left.” Serayah said, her voice hard.

“I am alone in the Universe.” The Dalek said slowly in realization, its eye-stock lowering in despair.

“Yep.” The Doctor confirmed with a smile.

“So are the two of you.” The Dalek pointed out. The Doctor’s smile faded. “We are the same.”

“We’re not the same!” Serayah roared angrily as the Doctor whirled around in anger, facing the Dalek.

“We’re not…” the Doctor roared at the Dalek, staring into its eye-stock before pausing for a moment and continuing in a slightly lower tone, “No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right.” He stepped back slightly. “Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause we know what to do. We know what should happen. We know what you deserve.” He paused once more staring at the Dalek before saying in a sing-song tone, “Exterminate.”

Serayah went to the console and pulled a lever, causing the Dalek to light up with electric currents running all over it. It screamed in agony.

“Have pity!” it pleaded.

“Why should we?” the Doctor asked it in a hard voice. “You never did!”

Serayah pulled another lever, causing a higher voltage of electrical currents to shoot out at the Dalek, adding to previous ones.

“Help me!” the Dalek pleaded pathetically.

Serayah reached her hand out to another lever to increase the voltage when she was grabbed by a guard, her arms pinned to the side as a technician turned off the electrical currents.

“I saved your life. Now talk to me.” Van Statten ordered the Dalek, only for it to stubbornly refuse to say anything. “Goddamn it, talk to me!”

Serayah head butted the guard holding her, causing him to let her go as another guard grabbed her. She stepped on his foot with her heeled pump and rabbit-punched him with the back of her fist as another came up from the side and grabbed her, two others followed suit, holding her in place as the Doctor was grabbed by two guards, his arms pinned to the sides.

“You’ve got to destroy it!” the Doctor yelled as the two of them were dragged out of the Cage. “You’ve got to destroy it!”

They were dragged out into the outer room and held until they stopped struggling.

“The metal’s just the battle armour.” The Doctor told Van Statten and Goddard as the four of them entered the elevator after a pair of guards. “The real Dalek creature’s inside.”

“What does it look like?” Van Statten asked curiously as Goddard closed the lift doors and they began to move.

“A nightmare.” Serayah replied, curled against her husband, who had his arm around her, drawing and providing comfort to each other. “It’s a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate.”

“Genetically engineered.” Van Statten repeated in wonder. “By whom?”

“By a genius, Van Statten.” Serayah snapped, looking at the tall arrogant American. “By a man who was king of his own little world.” She paused before adding sarcastically, “You’d like him.”

“It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another.” Goddard said to them, as she turned and asked the couple, “Why would it be a threat now?”

“Because we’re here.” The Doctor replied, gesturing to himself and Serayah.

“How did it get to Earth?” Serayah asked with a frown. She had been wondering that since she learned of its existence. “Does anyone know?”

“The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must have gone insane.” Goddard replied.

“It must have fallen through time.” The Doctor muttered softly, looking down at Serayah in his arms. “The only survivor.”

“You talked about a war?” Goddard probed.

“The Time War.” The Doctor replied. “The final battle between our two people” he gestured to Serayah and himself “and the Dalek race.”

“But you both survived, too.” Van Statten said, almost innocently.

Serayah frowned, not liking the man’s tone. It made her skin crawl and she shuddered lightly, the Doctor instinctively drawing his arms tighter around her as he felt the movement.

“Not by choice.” The Time Lord told Van Statten softly, his voice filled with pain as Serayah closed her eyes against the wave of memories.

“This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth.” Van Statten said and looked at the couple. “Doctor, Professor, there's you two. The only one of your kinds in existence.”

As soon as the lift doors opened, the couple was once again grabbed, pried apart and dragged to another Cage-like room. The Doctor was stripped down to his trousers while Serayah was stripped down to her white lace bra and panties.

They were put back against a metal rack as their arms were chained up, spread-eagled.

“Now, smile!” Van Statten said cheerfully as two lasers painfully scanned the couple, running up and down their bodies.

Their mouths fell open in silent screams and they panted for breath once the lasers were turned off.

“Two hearts!” Van Statten breathed as he looked at the monitors that showed their dual hearts beating rapidly. “Binary vascular systems. And you, Professor, you have wings!” He looked closer at the screen. “Folded against your back, furled in the thin space between your skeleton and your flesh.” He clapped his hands in glee. “Oh, I’m so going to patent this!”

“So that’s your secret.” The Doctor said in realization, panting slightly as his hearts slowly stopped racing. “You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it.”

“This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly.” Van Statten told them, radiating smugness and arrogance. “Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You two have no idea, Doctor, Professor. Broadband? Roswell.” He walked forwards, coming to a stop in front of the chained couple. “Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do you know what we found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?”

He gave them an arrogant grin as he turned to walk away.

“Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten?” Serayah asked, glaring fiercely at the arrogant man. The man’s grin faded as he looked at the couple. “A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species.” She sneered at him as she added, “That creature in your dungeon is better than you will ever hope to be.”

“In that case,” Van Statten said darkly, looking at the both of them, “I will be true to myself and continue.”

He turned to walk away.

“Listen to me!” the Doctor cried as Van Statten stopped between the laser scanners. “That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!”

“Nothing can escape the Cage.” Van Statten told them with a nonchalant smile, turning the scanners back on.

They clenched their teeth, holding back their pained screams.

“But it’s woken up!” Serayah pleaded to him as she panted for breath, after Van Statten turned the lasers off. “It knows we’re here. It’s going to get out.” She looked at him in pained earnest. “Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe! No one on this planet!”

Van Statten looked at the two of them for a long moment, taking in their pleading looks. Giving them a cruel look, and turned to lasers back on, watching as they screamed in pain.

Several minutes later, unable to hold back at the pain she was feeling, from her husband combined with her own, Serayah’s large wings sprung out from behind her. They were both panting and covered in sweat. Serayah’s long hair out from its half-pony and falling around her body in loose curls, damp with sweat.

Van Statten turned the laser off, staring with wonder at the beautiful white wings, spreading out large and wide behind the beautiful woman, feathers fluttering gently to the ground. He walked towards her, reaching a hand out to touch the beautiful wings as she weakly tried to shift away, wanting to get away from the man’s vile touch.

“Don’t touch her!” the Doctor yelled, just as weak as his wife, only to receive a laugh as he struggled against his bindings.

_“Condition Red! Condition Red!”_ came the call over the intercom, making Van Statten pause just inches away from the feathers and look up. _“This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!”_

“Release us if you want to live.” Serayah said weakly, turning her head to the vile man inches away from her.

_“Condition Red! This is not a drill!”_ came the call once more.

Van Statten looked at the pair, and nodded to the technicians. They surrounded the couple, lowering their arms and releasing the bindings. They fell forwards with a groan, landing on their hands and knees, slowly pulling themselves up to their feet.

The Doctor grabbed their clothes and shoes, handing Serayah’s to her as they ran into the lift and frantically pressed the button for Van Statten’s office. As they rode up in the lift, he quickly put his clothes and shoes back on as Serayah tried to retract her wings before she put her clothes on.

She panted from exertion, her closed tightly as he squeezed her husband’s hand, repeatedly trying to retract her wings and failing each time.

“ _Annwyl_ , my wings…” she breathed, looking up at him with wide eyes filled with worry. “I can’t retract them.”

“It’s okay, Ayah, it’s okay.” He soothed, putting his large hands on either side of her face. “Close your eyes,” she did so, reaching her hands up and putting them on his arms “take a deep breath,” she did, squeezing his arms “and try again.”

She tried again, looking deep within herself for her core. Using her husband and his love for her as a focus, she let her power swirl through her and focused on retracting her wings. Seconds later, she opened her eyes, only to find that her wings were still out.

“I’m sorry, Ayah.” The Doctor said softly, kissing her forehead as her shoulders slumped in frustration.

As much as she loved having wings, they weren’t exactly inconspicuous, with them being such a bright white colour. She slowly took her skirt from him and put it on along with her heels, before using his help to get her blouse on around her wings. Normally, it didn’t matter if she got dressed with her wings out, the wings would simply pass through the material just as they do when she lets them out. However, with her being so weak from the pain and torture, she couldn’t focus her energy enough to make it possible.

Reaching Van Statten’s office, they ran out of the lift and passed Goddard as they came to a stop in front of a large wall TV with Rose and a guard on screen.

“You’ve got to keep it in that cell.” The Doctor ordered as he looked at Rose.

“Doctor, Professor, it’s all my fault.” Rose told them guiltily.

“I’ve sealed the compartment.” The guard said. “It can’t get out, that lock’s got a billion combinations.”

“A Dalek’s a genius.” Serayah told him. “It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in a single second.”

Van Statten looked at them in surprise. Their eyes were drawn back to the screen were Rose and the guards were watching the keypad as it ran through all the possible combinations. As they watched the keypad, the guards aimed their weapons at the door, armed and ready to open fire as soon as the Dalek came through.

The klaxon alarm blared, flashing yellow, as the heavy metal door opened slowly, revealing the Dalek behind.

“Open fire!” the guard that spoke to them, Bywater, ordered.

The guards fired their weapons at the Dalek, making no difference to the creature of nightmares.

“Don’t shoot it!” Van Statten yelled his order through the video feed to the guards. “I want it unharmed.”

“Rose! Get out of there!” the Doctor yelled as Serayah looked at Van Statten in disbelief.

The four in the office watched as the guards ignored Van Statten’s order and continued to fire at the Dalek, walking backwards out of the room. They watched as one of the female guards led Rose and the young man she was with out of the room and out of sight, as the Dalek glided up to the monitor they were viewing the scene through.

Serayah grabbed the Doctor’s hand in terror and he squeezed it in return, holding it tightly.

The Dalek smashed its sucker into the monitor and began absorbing the electrical energy, using it to repair its battered armour, turning from dull brown to splendid gold.

_“Abandoning the Cage, sir.”_ They heard Bywater say, as the two men stood behind Goddard, seated on the chair, behind Van Statten’s desk and looking at the monitor, with Serayah watching from across the table, her wings out behind her.

“We're losing power.” Goddard said as she rapidly tried entering a series of commands into the keyboard. “It's draining the base.” She gasped as she glanced at them and continued in disbelief. “Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah.”

“It’s downloading.” Serayah told the two Americans.

“Downloading what?” Van Statten asked.

“Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down.” Goddard said, frantically typing at the keyboard.

“It's not just energy.” The Doctor said. “That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything.”

“The cameras in the vault have gone down.” Goddard said as she looked up at the two men.

“We’ve only got emergency power.” Serayah said to Van Statten. “It’s eaten everything else. You’ve got to kill it now!”

“All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately.” Goddard said, a hand to her earpiece as she spoke, deciding not to wait for an order from Van Statten. She paused for a moment before looking at them, mostly Serayah and the Doctor. “They’re doing it. Their converging in the Cage.”

“Tell them to stop shooting at it.” Van Statten ordered Goddard as they heard the sound of gunfire, who looked at him in shock.

“But it’s killing them!” she protested, looking at him.

“Their dispensable.” He replied dismissively. “That Dalek is unique.” He spoke into the microphone. “I don’t want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?”

They hear the gunfire slow to a stop. Van Statten looked at them with a slight smirk, believing he had gotten the guards to stop shooting. Serayah and the Doctor look at each other, both knowing that the silence was most likely due to no one being left for the Dalek to shoot, rather than any of the guards having followed Van Statten’s order.

The couple looked back at Goddard, who was visibly shaken but able to put her emotions aside in order to deal with the crisis they found themselves in.

“Can you pull up the schematics of the base?” Serayah asked Goddard. “So we can see where we are and where the Dalek is?”

She nodded and a few seconds later, the schematics were on screen.

“That’s us, right below the surface.” She said, pointing to an area near the top. “That’s the Cage.” She pointed to another area. “And that’s the Dalek.” She pointed to the glowing blue dot that was slowly moving.

“This museum of yours,” the Doctor said, making Goddard look at him, “have you got any alien weapons?”

“Lots of them.” She replied, “But the trouble is that the Dalek’s between us and them.”

“We've got to keep that thing alive.” Van Statten said, making the three of them look at him. “We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there.”

“Leaving everyone trapped with it. Rose is down there. Neither of us will let that happen.” She gestured to herself and her husband. “Have you got that?” Serayah said firmly, holding back the desire to slap him only through sheer will power as well as etiquette and protocol that had been drilled into her since she was a Tot on Airedale.

Her statement was echoed by the Doctor.

“It's got to go through this area.” The Doctor said to Goddard, pointing to an area on the schematics. “What's that?”

“Weapons testing.” She replied.

“Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it.”

She nodded and stood up, leaving the desk to do as ordered, as the Doctor sat down and looked at the monitor.

“I thought you two were the great experts. Doctor, Professor.” Van Statten said to them, as the couple looked at the monitor. “If you two are so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something.”

“What is the nearest town?” the Doctor asked abruptly, not looking at him.

“Salt Lake City.” Van Statten replied.                                                                                                 

“Population?” Serayah asked, just as abrupt and also not looking at him.

“One million.”

“All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs.” Serayah said, finally looking up at the man.

“But why would it do that?” Van Statten yelled in frustration.

“Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!” Serayah explained, her tone getting progressively more harder, until she ended the sentence with a shout towards the American.

“The Dalek's surrounded by a force field.” The Doctor said to the guards that were taking up positions in the loading bay. “The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, specifically the eyepiece. That's the weak spot.”

_“Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot!_ ” They heard the Commander reply to the Time Lord.

Serayah sighed in frustration as the communication link ended, leaving them in silence.

“They’re going to get killed.” Serayah said softly, tears gathering in her large eyes as Goddard joined them once more.

“What do you mean?” she asked, a frown on her pretty features.

“Did you not hear how the Commander replied to my husband?” Serayah asked her. “Their over confidence will get them killed.” She closed her eyes, a few tears escaping down her rosy cheeks. She opened her eyes and looked up at the taller woman with her large pain-filled eyes, staring deep into the woman’s soul. “It has happened before.”

“The war you were talking about.” Goddard said in realization.

“Yes.” The Doctor affirmed. “Over confidence on the part of the Time Lords was one of the causes of the Time War.”

The couple fell silent, lost in memories of a time they both wished they wouldn’t remember, yet knew they must always.

“We’ve got vision.” Goddard said suddenly, a few minutes later and looking at the wall screen.

Her statement drew their attention to the screen as well. They watched as the guards showered a hail of bullets against the Dalek, to no effect.

“It wants us to see.” The Doctor said softly.

The Dalek began to rise into the air, zapping the fire alarm and setting off the sprinklers, showering the entire loading bay in a torrent of water. As soon as the concrete floor was covered with a layer of water, the Dalek fired towards the wet ground, electrocuting everyone on the ground who had gotten wet.

Serayah covered her ears as she heard the screams, still echoing through her mind.

“Fall back! Fall back!” they heard the Commander call to the remaining personnel.

The Dalek aimed its gun arm at the mezzanine that the Commander was on and fired another shot, killing him and the remaining personnel and ending the video feed to the office.

In Van Statten’s office, there was utter silence as the Doctor curled his arm around Serayah, holding her close as Goddard used every bit of training she had to keep her emotions in check at all the death and destruction she had seen in the past few hours. Van Statten was completely silent, staring at the now blackened screen with wide eyes.

“Perhaps it's time for a new strategy. Maybe we should consider abandoning this place.” He suggested, shock pouring off of him.

“Except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out.” Goddard reminded him in a hard voice.

“You said we could seal the vault.” Serayah reminded Van Statten.

“It was designed to be a bunker in the event of nuclear war.” Van Statten said, walking to the desk and sitting down in front of the monitor. “Steel bulkheads.”

“There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive.” Goddard argued.

“We've got emergency power.” The Doctor replied. “We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors.”

“We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius.” Goddard exclaimed.

“Good thing you’ve got me, then.” Van Statten said, making the three of them look at him in surprise.

“Hold on, you want to _help_?” Serayah asked him incredulously, resting her hands on the desk and looking at the monitor.

The Doctor around the desk and leaned over the back of the chair, looking over Van Statten’s shoulder at the monitor.

“I don't want to die, Professor. Simple as that.” Van Statten said strongly, glancing at Serayah before turning back to the monitor. “And nobody knows this software better than me.”

The wall screen video feed turned back on, catching Goddard’s eye.

“Sir…” she breathed, making the three look up and follow her line of sight to the monitor.

The Dalek is back on the ground, and turned to face them with its eye-stalk. The sprinklers were still showering a spray of water down on the loading bay.

“I shall speak only to the Doctor and the Professor.” The Dalek said.

The Doctor and Serayah slowly straightened up, staring at the screen.

“You’re going to get rusty.” The Doctor snarked.

“I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveler regenerated me.” The Dalek informed them.

“What’s your next trick?” Serayah asked it.

“I have been searching for the Daleks.” The Dalek admitted.

“Yeah, we saw - downloading the internet.” The Doctor said, walking around the desk and coming to a stop beside Serayah. “What did you find?”

“I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes.”

“And?” Serayah prompted.

“Nothing.” The Dalek said. “Where shall I get my orders now?”

“You’re just a soldier without commands.” The Doctor said to it.

“Then I shall follow the Primary Order… the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer.”

“What for? What's the point?” Serayah questioned it. “Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for.”

“Than what should I do?”

“All right, then.” The Doctor conceded. “If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself.”

“The Daleks must survive!” the Dalek responded adamantly.

“The Daleks have failed!” Serayah yelled in anger. “Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct?”

“Rid the Universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?” the Doctor added, just as loudly, just as filled with anger as well as hate.

“You would make good Daleks.” The Dalek said to them before the screen went blank once again.

The two aliens started at the blank screen for a moment in shock at what the Dalek had said, Goddard and Van Statten looking at them as well.

“Seal the Vault.” The Doctor ordered. Van Staten began typing rapidly, the Doctor sitting opposite him, doing the same.

“I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads.” Van Statten said, exhilaration in his voice. “God, it’s been years since I had to work this fast.”

“Are you enjoying this?” the Doctor asked him darkly, glancing at him with a glare.

“Doctor, Professor,” Goddard said softly, looking to the two. “She’s still down there.”

“Call Rose, and find out what level she’s on. I’m going to fly down to their level and try to speed them along as much as possible.” Serayah said. “Where is the stairwell on the level below us?”

“Down the corridor and to the right.” Goddard replied, confused. “But how will that help if you are directly below us and she’s several levels below?”

“I can fly down through the square drop in the stairwell until I reach the floor they are on.” Serayah replied, tying her hair into a messy knot at the back of her head to keep it out of her way as she flew. “And this is her number.” She rattled off a series of numbers, Goddard inputting them into the dialling pad.

_“This isn't the best time.”_ They heard Rose say in lieu of a greeting when she answered her mobile. They could hear her panting.

“Where are you?” the Doctor asked.

_“Level 49.”_

Goddard rapidly typed in the access code for the lift and opened it for Serayah, pressing the button for the floor directly below them.

“You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off up at level forty six.” He told her as Serayah got into the lift and the doors closed.

_“Can't you stop them closing?”_

“I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Ayah’s coming down to try and speed you along, but for God’s sake, run.”

Serayah got off the lift and ran down the corridor, coming to the stairwell doors. Going through the doors, she looked over the side and saw Adam and Rose running up the stairs. She jumped over the railing and flew down vertically, reaching Floor 46 a few seconds later.

“Wha-?” Rose stammered, taking in the sight of the wings she had never seen before as Adam gaped at the beautiful woman.

Rose shook her head, shaking off her surprise. After everything she had seen since joining the couple on their travels, seeing her friend with wings wasn't that big of a surprise, not to mention, there was also a bad-tempered pepper pot that was chasing them with the sole intention of killing them all.

“Not now.” Serayah said, mostly to Adam, dropping to her feet on the landing and opening the doors to the floor. “Run now, questions later.”

Adam nodded and the three of them ran down the corridor.

“We're nearly there. Give us two seconds.” Serayah said into Rose’s mobile that she had held to her ear.

They were a few feet away from the bulkhead when the klaxon alarms sounded, and the doors began to slowly lower.

“Come on!” Adam yelled back to Rose and Serayah, putting on a burst of speed and rolling under the slowly lowering doors.

Serayah grabbed Rose and pushed her towards the door, making her slide through before flying towards them herself.

_“Ayah, Rose, where are you?”_ the Doctor asked frantically into the mobile. _“Ayah, Rose, did you make it?”_

“Rose is through.” Serayah said softly, resting her forehead against the sealed door.

_“Ayah, where are you?”_  He asked desperately, fear filling his heart.

“I was a little too slow, my love.” She replied softly, turning around and watching the Dalek as it slowly rounded the corner and came toward her.

_“Ayah, no, please.”_ He pleaded, tears streaming down his face as he talked to his beloved wife. _“I love you so much. I can’t do this without you.”_

“It wasn’t your fault, okay. Remember that. I love you, my farm boy.” Serayah closed her eyes briefly against the tears that streamed down her cheeks, turning back to face the bulkhead door and rest her forehead against it gently. “And it was amazing, wasn’t it? We had 900 amazing and wonderful years together.”

_“It wasn’t enough.”_ He said softly. _“900 years wasn’t enough. It’s not nearly enough.”_

“No, it wasn’t.” she agreed, hearing the Dalek coming to a stop behind her. “I’m going to block my side of the bond so you don’t feel me die.” She did so, and they both gasped at the sudden lack of feeling they experienced from the other. “Take care of Siani. Tell her I love her. I love you, my farm boy.”

_“I love you, my princess.”_

 “Exterminate!” the Dalek said as it aimed its gun arm at her and fired with a ‘zap!’

Up in Van Statten’s office, the Doctor removed the earpiece from his ear, unable to listen as his wife died.

“I killed her.” He said quietly, tears streaming down his face. Guilt and regret churned in his hearts.

“I am sorry.” Van Statten said apologetically, making the Doctor turn and look at him.

“I swore to protect her.” The ancient being growled. “Long before we married, I swore to protect her. She was only here because of me, and you’re sorry?” he stalked towards the desk as he continued. “I could’ve killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me.”

“It was the prize of my collection!” Van Statten protested defensively.

“Your collection?” the Doctor shouted, making the man jump slightly. “But was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth my _wife_? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater.”

“Exactly!” Van Statten exclaimed, standing up. “I wanted to touch the starts!”

“You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them.” The Doctor told him. “You're about as far from the stars as you can get!” Van Statten stared at him in shock as the Time Lord turned away and lowered his voice, filled with despair. “And you took her down with you. She was the last of her race and she had a child.” He turned back to Van Statten and asked quietly, “What am I supposed to tell our daughter when she asks me where her mother is?”

Van Statten was silent as he looked away, unable to look at the man’s expressive orbs that conveyed unimaginable pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serayah opened her eyes and slowly turned to face the Dalek, surprised that it didn’t kill her.

“Go on then, kill me.” She told it as it stared at her through it’s’ eye-stalk. “Why do you pause?”

“I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose.” It said.

“They’re all dead because of you!” Serayah shouted, tears of sorrow and anger pooling in her eyes.

“They are dead because of us.” It corrected her.

“What do you mean, us?” Serayah asked with a frown. “I wanted to kill you as soon as I found out you existed. As did my husband.”

“Rose Tyler.” It said.

“When you extrapolated her genetic material.” Serayah said softly in realization. “You think that because she showed you compassion, believing you to be an innocent being, she is also at fault for the deaths that you caused.”

“The deaths _we_ caused.” It said.

“And now what?” Serayah asked. “What do you wait for?”

“I feel your fear.” It said slowly.

“What do you expect?” Serayah cried out. “I know what you are capable of. I saw the Fall of Arcadia. I was there when the Dalek’s began, just as I was there when they ended. Or so it had seemed. You do not discriminate, you do not hesitate.” She frowned slightly as she looked at it. “So why do you pause now?”

“Daleks do not fear. Must not fear.” it said.

The Dalek shot either side of the bulkhead door, narrowly missing her wings as she flinched at the sounds.

“Rose Tyler gave me life. What else has Rose Tyler given me?” it asked in confusion. “I am contaminated.”

It glided towards her, nudging her forward until she was standing in front of its gun arm. It activated the camera, and the visual feed to Van Statten’s office.

“Open the bulkhead or the Professor dies.” It said to the office’s occupants, who whirled around when they heard the Dalek’s words.

“You’re alive!” the Doctor exclaimed, a wide smile crossing his face as he let out a sigh of relief.

“We thought you were dead.” Rose added, relief colouring her voice as well, overshadowing the guilt she felt at the thought of causing the kind older woman’s death.

“Impossible to get rid of me.” Serayah said with a small smile. “Isn’t that what Kos used to say?”

“Yeah, he did.” The Doctor said softly. “Re-open the bond.”

“No, if it kills me, I won’t have you feeling it.” She replied, tears in her eyes.

“Please, Ayah. Open the bond. I need to know that you’re alive.” He pleaded with her.

Since she was the one to close the bond, she had to be the one to re-establish it.

“Open the bulkhead!” the Dalek ordered before Serayah could say anything.

“Don’t do it, Eta!” Serayah said as the Doctor stood, tormented at the choice he would need to make.

“What use are emotions if you can’t save the woman who holds your hearts and soul, Doctor?” the Dalek asked.

The Doctor slowly looked at the humans in the room and back at the screen where his beloved wife was being held by a Dalek. Van Statten stared at the Doctor in shock at seeing Serayah alive. Goddard watched the Doctor as the emotions played on his face.

“I killed her once.” He said softly, walking to the desk. “I can’t do it again.”

He hit the ‘Enter’ key on the keyboard and the bulkhead door slowly opened. The Dalek and Serayah went through and down the corridor towards the lift. They were silent, Serayah lost in her memories of her childhood on Airedale and Gallifrey, meeting her two best friends, marrying her Time Lord and having his children. Seeing them grow up and live their lives, get married and have children of their own. Begin their travels through Time and Space with Susan. Taking Companions and travelling with them, fighting battles, saving worlds, running. All the running they had done, she became quite proficient in being able to run and fight in high heels, not something many females could say.

When they reached the lift, the Dalek over rode the combination sequence and they got in. Serayah pressed the button for Van Statten’s office and they slowly ascended.

“Don’t kill them.” Serayah said softly after a few minutes as she saw the gun arm twitch, standing behind the Dalek. “I’m begging you. Please, don’t kill them. You didn’t kill me.”

“But why not?” it asked, turning its head around to look at her. “You are an enemy of the Daleks. Why are you alive? My function id to kill. What am I? What am I?”

Serayah didn’t have an answer. All these years, since the creation of the Daleks, they had one purpose, kill anything that was not Dalek. They were bred for the single purpose – to kill. So why did it not kill her when it had wanted to when it first saw them in the Cage? Why didn’t it kill her when it had killed so many others in the past few hours alone? What did Rose pass to it along with genetic material?

These questions plagued Serayah’s mind as they reached Van Statten’s office and the lift doors opened.

“Don't move. Don't do anything.” Serayah said as soon as the lift doors opened. “It's beginning to question itself.”

Serayah and the Dalek walked out of the lift, coming to a stop directly in front of it.

“Rose Tyler.” The Dalek said, turning to the blonde who was standing by the desk, clutching the side in terror. “What did you give me?”

“What do you mean? I haven’t given you anything.” She asked shakily.

“What have you contaminated me with?” it asked, gun arm twitching.

“She hasn’t done anything.” Serayah told it, seeing Goddard, tears of terror in her eyes, inch slowly toward the blonde and put her arm around her. “You took her genetic material.”

It turned to Van Statten, who was standing a few feet away from Rose. “Van Statten,” it said slowly, gliding towards him. “You tortured me. Why?”

“I wanted to help you.” Van Statten said shakily, walking backward slowly as the Dalek advanced on him. “I just, I don't know. I was trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you. I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!” Van Statten was completely backed up against the wall. “I swear, I just wanted you to talk!”

“Then hear me now.” The Dalek said. “Exterminate! Exterminate!” Van Statten grimaced in fear. “Exterminate!”

“Don’t do it! Don’t kill him!” Rose cried out, running forward and stopping next to the Dalek. “You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing.” She pleaded with it. “What else is there? What do you want?”

“I want…freedom.” It replied slowly.

“Okay.” Rose said softly. “Then let’s go.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight.” Serayah said as Rose and the Dalek went towards the door.

She opened it and followed the two out and they headed down the corridor, the two women walking beside each other. They turned the corner and the women ducked as the Dalek blasted a large hole into the roof. A shaft of sunlight streamed through the newly created hole, straight down onto its eye-piece.

“You’re out.” Rose said, turning to look at it. “You made it.” She turned towards the beam. “I never thought I’d feel the sunlight again.” She said wistfully.

“You and me both.” Serayah said, hovering slightly behind the Dalek as she felt the warm rays on her face.

“How…does…it…feel?” the Dalek asked slowly, making Serayah whirl around and stare at it in shock.

Rose turned to look at it in surprise as it slowly opened its middle and dome sections with a hiss, revealing the one-eyed mutated squid-like creature inside. It slowly held out a tendril towards the shaft of sunlight as Serayah and Rose watched.

“Get out of the way!” the Doctor yelled from behind them, making the two women whirl around and see that he had a large gun pointed towards the Dalek. “Ayah, Rose get out of the way, now!”

Rose, standing in front of the Dalek, stared in shock at the man.

“No.” Rose refused, still looking at him with shock. “I won’t let you do this.”

“That thing killed hundreds of people.” He growled hatefully.

“It’s not the one pointing the gun at us.” Rose replied coldly.

“I’ve got to do this.” He cried. “I’ve got to end it. Ayah, the Dalek’s destroyed our planets, our _people_. We’ve got nothing left of our history, our legacies.”

“Eta, look at it.” Serayah said gently. “I know what you feel. But, just once, look at it first.”

“What’s it doing?” he asked, looking at it confused as the Dalek basked in the warm rays.

“It’s the sunlight.” Rose replied. “That’s all it wants.”

“But it can’t.” he whispered in shaken disbelief.

“Eta, it couldn’t kill me, it couldn’t kill Rose, and it couldn’t kill Van Statten.” Serayah told her husband softly, flying over Rose and the Dalek, landing on her feet in front of him and putting a gentle hand on his cheek. “I don’t know why, but it couldn’t.”

“It’s changing Doctor.” Rose said in adamant defence of the creature. “What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?”

He lowered the gun as he stared at his wife, the one woman in all the Universe who knew exactly how he felt. “I couldn’t…” he said shakily, tears in his eyes as he looked at her. “I wasn’t…” he glanced at the Dalek and looked at Rose, the gun clattering to the ground. “They’re all dead.”

“Why do we survive, Doctor, Professor?” the Dalek asked.

“I don’t know.” Serayah replied softly.

“I am the last of the Daleks.”

“You’re not even that.” The Doctor said. “Rose did more than regenerate you. You’ve absorbed her DNA. You’re mutating.”

Serayah looked at her husband in surprise and back at the Dalek, suddenly everything making sense.

“Into what?”

“Something new.” Serayah replied. She looked at the Dalek and said softly, “I’m sorry.”

“Isn’t that better?” Rose asked, looking between the couple.

“Not for a Dalek.” The Doctor replied.

“I can feel… so many ideas…” Rose turned to look at the Dalek as it spoke. “So much darkness. Rose, give me orders. Order me to die.”

Rose looked at it, its glazed eye slowly closing as the Doctor and Serayah looked from the Dalek to Rose.

“I can’t do that.” Rose shook her head.

“This is not life. This is sickness.” Rose’s face contorted in pity as she listened to the Dalek’s words. “I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!”

“Do it.” She said after a long moment of watching the Dalek flail its tendrils.

“Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?” it asked her.

“Yeah.” She replied nodding, tears in her eyes.

“So am I.” it admitted feebly as it closed its eye. “Exterminate!”

Rose ran back towards the Doctor and Serayah as the Dalek closed its armour once more and rose it the air. The golden-bronze orbs along its lower body detached and surrounded it a perfect spherical force field. It glowed briefly before exploding inside the sphere, vanishing completely.

Serayah and the Doctor stared at the place it exploded, completely stunned. The Doctor drew Serayah into a tight hug, holding her close. They stayed in their embrace for a long moment, Rose looking on with a smile as she realized that they probably forgot she was there.

“Come on.” Serayah said after they pulled apart. “Let’s get out of this place.”

“Amen to that.” Rose muttered as she began walking towards the lift.

The Doctor put his arm around Serayah, holding her close as they followed their Companion. The lift ride was silent, Serayah finally managing to retract her wings. Reaching the museum, they walked back to the TARDIS, the Doctor put a hand on her side panel.

“Little piece of home.” He said softly. “Still, better than nothing.”

“Is that the end of it, the Time War?” Rose asked, speaking up for the first time since they left the first floor.

“Yes.” Serayah said. “We’re the only ones left.”

“We win.” He said mockingly. “How about that?”

“The Dalek survived.” Rose said. “Maybe some of your people did too. And yours as well Serayah.”

“We’d know.” Serayah replied. “In my heart and in his mind.”

“Feels like there’s no one.” He said sadly.

“Well then.” Rose said, slightly more cheerfully. “Good thing I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah.” The Doctor agreed with a smile as Adam jogged up to them, a bag in his hand.

“We’d better get out.” The young man said, looking at them. “Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed.”

“About time!” Rose said.

“Tell me about it.” Serayah muttered.

“I’ll have to go back home.” Adam realized.

“Better hurry up then.” The Doctor said to Adam. “Next flight to Heathrow leaves at” he glanced at his watch, “1500 hours.”

“Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars.” Rose hinted pointedly to the couple.

“Tell him to go and stand outside, then.” The Doctor replied coolly.

Serayah smirked slightly.

“He's all on his own, you guys.” Rose said softly. “And he _did_ help.”

“He nearly left you down there.” The Doctor said in response. “If Ayah hadn’t pushed you through the doors, you would’ve been left down there. She _was_ left down there.”

“You were the one closing the doors.” Rose reminded him.

“What are you talking about?” Adam exclaimed. “We need to leave.”

“Plus, he’s a bit pretty.” Serayah added with a slight smirk.

“I hadn’t noticed.” Rose said, studiously not looking at Adam as the couple raised their eyebrows at her in amusement.

“On your own head.” The Time Lord muttered, turning around and unlocking the TARDIS.

“What're you doing?” Adam asked, watching as the three of them entered the blue box, leaving him standing outside. “She said cement! She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in.” he walked over to the TARDIS. “Doctor, Professor, what are you doing standing inside a box? Rose?”

He slowly opened the door and crept inside, the TARDIS dematerializing as soon as the door closed behind him.


	8. The Long Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor, Serayah, Rose, and Adam travel to the year 200,000 and land on the space station Satellite 5, which controls journalism. Ever since the satellite began broadcasting, something has held the human race's attitude and technology back. The Editor invites the Doctor, Serayah and Rose to the elite Floor 500, where he holds them captive, explaining that he and a creature known as the Jagrafess have made, through Satellite 5, the "Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire" a place where the news has installed fear in the human race, keeping them in a closed society. Meanwhile, Adam has installed a port in his head and is transmitting all the knowledge on Satellite 5 to his parents' answering machine at home. Cathica, another journalist with an info spike linked to Adam's, redirects the heat to Floor 500, allowing Rose, Serayah and the Doctor to escape, while the Editor and the Jagrafess are destroyed by the heat. The Doctor and Serayah are furious at Adam and return him to his house, destroying the answering machine and banishing Adam from the TARDIS.

**Season 1 Episode 7 - The Long Game**

When the TARDIS materialized at their destination, the Doctor, Serayah and Rose stepped out, Rose gently closing the door behind them.

The Doctor was in his typical outfit, with a dark green jumper under his leather jacket. Rose was in a pair of dark-wash denim jeans, a red and black zipped up jacket and black 2” heeled boots with her hair in a high pony and few strands coming loose to frame her face. Serayah was wearing a floor-length red lahenga trimmed with a golden border along the bottom with a white off the shoulder long-sleeved spaghetti strapped blouse with orange-gold embroidery that showed off her flat stomach (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/474566879474461953/>), red Miu Miu Multi-strap 5” high heeled sandals (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/474566879473600772/>) and the front of her hair held back with a braided headband (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/439593613601533136/>) while the rest tumbled down her frame in loose gentle curls. She had a small red cross-body purse (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/531776668482994030/>) hanging over her shoulder.

“So, it’s 200,000.” The Doctor said to Rose as she listened closely. “It’s a spaceship… no, wait a minute, space station, and er… ” he glanced around.

“Go try that gate over there.” Serayah finished, pointing to a gate not far from them. “Off you go.”

Rose nodded as the couple stepped back, the Doctor leaning against the TARDIS as Serayah leaned against him.

“200,000?” Rose confirmed as she put a hand on the TARDIS door.

“200,000.” Serayah nodded with a smile.

“Adam?” Rose said, opening the TARDIS door. “Out you come.”

Adam stepped out dressed in a brown t-shirt under a white spring jacket, blue jeans and trainers. His jaw dropped as he took in the sight of the Observation Deck they were standing on.

“Oh, my God!” he breathed.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” Rose said reassuringly as the Doctor and Serayah exchanged smiles at Adam’s reaction.

“Where are we?” he asked, looking around in amazement.

“Good question.” Rose said as she glanced at the couple, who gave her encouraging nods. “Let’s see.” She looked around, a pondering expression on her face. “Judging by the architecture, I’d say we’re around the year 200,000.”

“Yeah.” Adam breathed, nodding faintly as he looked around, while Serayah and the Doctor watched Rose with fond smiles.

“And if you listen,” she continued, pausing for a moment to listen. “Engines.” She looked back at him. “We’re on some sort of space station.” She paused for a moment. “Yeah, definitely a space station.” She continued, nodding. “It’s a bit warm in here. They could turn the heating down.” She tugged lightly at her jacket collar, fanning her face at the heat before pointing to the gate Serayah had pointed out to her. “Tell you what – let’s try that gate. Come on!”

Rose ran over to the gate and opening it, the Doctor and Serayah behind her, Adam following a few seconds later. Rose led them through and up the steps behind it to a massive viewing window.

“Here we go!” she said with calm excitement. “And this is…” she looked out of the window and couldn’t find the words as Serayah and the Doctor stood beside her, Adam behind them. “I’ll let the Doctor or the Professor describe it.”

“The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire.” The Doctor said proudly as they looked down on the planet below. “And there it is, planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle.”

Adam, who had been nodding along with the Doctor’s explanation, fainted, collapsing in a heap behind them.

“He’s your boyfriend.” The Doctor told Rose, not even glancing at the boy.

“Not anymore.” Rose replied, also not looking at him.

Serayah rolled her eyes.

“You two are so mean.” She told the two of them, shaking her head and crouching next to Adam as he slowly came around.

“Ugh, my head.” He groaned, sitting up. “What happened?”

“You fainted.” Serayah replied standing up as Adam followed suit.

They made their way back to the Observation Deck, the Doctor putting an arm around both their Companions as Serayah linked arms with Rose.

“Come on, Adam. Open your mind.” The Doctor said as they waked passed the alcove they parked the TARDIS in. “You're going to like this - fantastic period of history. The human race at its most intelligent - culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners…”

“Out of the way!” a man yelled rudely, interrupting the Doctor as the small group stopped short and stared as a bell rang the deck began bustling with activity where only a few moments earlier was completely void of life.

They watched as people suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and opened up food vending stations, serving customers that began lining up at their counters. The two aliens exchanged looks, completely taken aback.

“Thank you very much indeed.” A chef said to one of his customers. “Somebody there?”

“That’s great. What do you want, love?” another said to a customer. “All right, keep it moving.”

“One at a time.” Another warned his queued customers. “What now, what was it? Kronkburger with cheese, kronkburger with pajatos.” The vendor turned and got the order ready, turning back to his customer. “Do you want a drink?” he called further down the queue. “Oi, you, mate. Stop pushing! Get back. I said, back.”

Rose looked at the poster in front of the stall.

“Fine cuisine?” she asked with a grimace, turning back to them.

“My watch must be wrong.” The Doctor said, frowning as he looked at his watch. “No, it's fine. It's weird.”

“That's what comes of showing off.” Rose told him. “Your history's not as good as you thought it was.”

“My history’s perfect.” He retorted with a slight whine.

“Well, obviously not.” Rose said with a smirk.

“Both of you, stop it.” Serayah said with an exasperated sigh as they looked around.

“They're all human.” Adam said slowly, walking forwards slightly as he looked around at the people. “What about the millions of planets, the millions of species? Where are they?”

“Good question.” The Doctor muttered, nodding before looking at Adam. “Actually, that _is_ a good question.” He put a jovial arm around Adam as he spoke, squeezing the boy’s shoulder. ”Adam, me old mate, you must be starving.”

“No, I'm just a bit time sick.” Adam stuttered, slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in attitude.

“No, you just need a bit of grub.” The Doctor said and went to the nearest vendor and asking, “Oi, mate - how much is a kronkburger?”

“Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now join the queue.” He replied, gesturing to the queue as the Doctor nodded.

“Money. We need money. Let’s use a cashpoint.” The Time Lord said, leading them to a Credit Five cashpoint and used his sonic screwdriver on it. A few seconds later, it produced a cash card that looked like a metal strip. “Here you go, pocket money.” He handed the card to Adam, who took with amazement.

“Don’t spend it all on sweets.” Serayah warned with a smile as she and the Doctor began walking away from the two humans.

“How does it work?” Adam asked as he examined it, making them turn and look at him.

“Go and find out. Stop nagging us!” The Doctor said exasperated. “The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guide book, you've got to throw yourself in - eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers… Or is that just me?” he looked at Serayah.

“Kissing complete strangers?” She repeated with amusement. “Just you.”

“Anyway, stop asking questions, go and do it!” Adam nodded and walked away, looking around in amazement. “Off you go, then.” He called to Rose’s retreating back, making her turn to look at the amused couple. “Your first date!”

“You two are gonna get a smack, you are.” Rose told the smiling couple with a grin of her own as she turned and followed Adam.

As soon as she was out of sight, they looked at each other, their smiles disappearing. Something was wrong. This is not what the Fourth Human Empire was supposed to look like.

Serayah noticed a pair of sharply dressed women talking quietly to each other.

“ _Annwyl_ ,” she said quietly, putting a gentle hand on his arm and making him turn to her. “Look, over there.”

He looks over to where she was gesturing and nodded. He offered his arm to her and she looped her own arm through it as they approached the pair of pretty young women, one with fair skin and short brown hair and the other with mocha-coloured skin and longer hair in braids and slightly taller than her companion.

“Excuse me.” He said, making the pair turn to look at him. “Er, this is going to sound daft, but can you tell us where we are?”

“Floor 139.” The one with mocha-coloured skin replied, gesturing to the wall on the side that had the floor number written on it. “Could they write it any bigger?”

“Floor 139 of what?” Serayah asked.

“Must have been a hell of a party!” the woman commented.

“You’re on Satellite Five.” The shorter woman said with a gentle smile.

“What’s Satellite Five?” the Doctor asked seriously, turning to her.

“Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?” the taller woman asked.

“Look at us, we’re stupid.” The Doctor said with earnest wide eyes, turning to her and giving her a smile.

“Hold on, wait a minute.” The shorter woman said, looking between her friend and the two strangers. “Are you a test?” the couple turned to look at her. “Some sort of management test kind of thing?”

“You've got us.” The Doctor said with a smile, taking out his psychic paper and showing it to them. “Well done. You're too clever for us.”

“We were warned about this in basic training.” The shorter woman commented to her companion as he put the bill-fold back in his pocket. “All workers have to be versed in company promotion.”

“Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor 500 I'll do anything.” The taller one told them as the Doctor crossed his arms.

“Why happens on Floor 500?” Serayah asked, looking up at her.

“The walls are made of gold! And you should know, Mr. and Mrs. Management!” she replied, her attitude changing completely.

The shorter woman gave the couple a sweet smile as the three of them followed the taller one to the monitor.

“So, this is what we do.” The mocha-skinned woman stood by the monitor and turned to look at them, completely professional. “Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. 200 dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane 77 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced his wife’s pregnant.”

“I get it.” The Doctor said, nodding slightly. “You broadcast the news.”

“We _are_ the news.” The tall woman corrected respectfully. “We're the Journalists. We write it, package it and sell it.” She crossed her arms and stood in front of them. “600 channels all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole Human Empire without it going though us.”

An alarm sounded around them. The effect was almost instant. Everyone picked up their possessions and left the canteen area as the vendors began closing their stalls. Adam and Rose looked around as they saw the sudden change as the Doctor and Serayah turned to look over at them.

“Oi, Mutt and Jeff!” he called, making them turn to him. “Over here!”

Rose grabbed her drink and immediately walked over, Adam following at a slightly slower pace, pocketing Rose’s phone and joining them.

The couple introduced Adam and Rose to the pair and they were led to a Newsroom. The room was almost sterile with the spars décor and white colouring. The shorter woman took a seat in an open space at an octagonal desk around a central chair with wires attached to it, with six other people sitting around the desk as well. Each space had a pair of palm-prints.

The Doctor, Serayah, Rose and Adam stood to the side behind a railing, the Doctor and Serayah standing next to each other with Rose and Adam on either side of them. They watched as the mocha-skinned woman walked forward slightly.

“Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection.” She said, before turning to the Doctor and Serayah and asking, “How do you want it, by the book?”

“Right from scratch, thanks.” The Doctor replied with a nod.

“Okay.” She said with a nod and turned to her colleagues. “So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, - my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni.” She turned to her observers. “That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me, and please do.” The Doctor and Serayah nodded as the woman continued, “Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy.”

“Actually, it’s the law.” Her friend pointed out with a gentle smile on her expressive face.

“Yes, thank you, Suki.” Cathica snapped at the woman, wiping the smile off her face. “Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go.” She settled into the central chair. “And…engage safety.” Her seven colleagues held their palms out over the palm-prints in front of them. Lights began coming on around the room, the four time travellers looking around briefly before turning back to Cathica as she snapped her fingers. A portal opened in her forehead and the seven put their hands into the palm-prints. “And three, two, and spike.”

A beam of light shone directly into her portal. Rose and Adam stared at Cathica, Rose with slight disgust in her face as Adam leaned in for a closer look.

“Compressed information,” Serayah told the two human teens, climbing up and sitting on the railing. “Streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain _is_ the computer.”

“If it all goes through her, she must be a genius.” Rose commented.

“Nah, she doesn’t remember any of it.” the Doctor said as he began walking around the room, behind the seven journalists seated at the table. “There's too much. Her head'd blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets.”

“So, what about all these people round the edge?” Rose asked, pointing to the seated journalists and squatting between two of them, not receiving any acknowledgment.

“They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit 600 channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place.” Serayah replied.

“Now that's what I call power.” The Doctor added as he leaned against the railing in front of Serayah’s perch, resting his arm on her thigh as she put her own arm around his broad shoulders.

Rose walked back to Adam, taking in his slightly peaky expression.

“I can see her brain.” He replied.

“Do you want to get out?” she asked him concerned, knowing that time and space travel wasn’t for everyone.

“No. No,” Adam replied, leaning his hands on the railing. “This technology’s amazing.”

“This technology’s wrong.” The Doctor said, making the two humans look at the two aliens.

“Trouble?” Rose asked with a hint of a smile.

“Oh, yes.” Serayah replied, her and the Doctor turning to look at her with a smile.

Rose grinned excitedly as Adam looked confused.

There was a slight shuddering sound and Suki twitched slightly. Suddenly, she gasped and pulled her hands away from the pads as if she had received an electric shock. The other six slowly lifted their hands from their pads and the information beam shut down. Cathica’s portal closed and she blinked a few times as if to adjust.

“Come off it, Suki. I wasn’t even halfway.” Cathica said annoyed as she sat up slightly and looked at the shorter woman. “What was that for?”

“Sorry.” She replied weakly, rubbing her palm slightly. “It must’ve been a glitch.”

“Oh.” Cathica sighed and got off the chair.

_“Promotion!”_ a loudspeaker announced as

Everyone in the room turned towards a projection that lit up one wall, with the word lighting up as well.

“Come on! This is it. Come on! Oh God, make it me. Come on, say my name,” Cathica prayed, as the four time travellers glanced at her in mild concern. “Say my name, say my name…”

_“Promotion for… Suki Macrae Cantrell.”_ Suki’s jaw dropped as Cathica’s shoulders slumeped in disappointment. _“Please proceed to Floor 500.”_

“I don’t believe it!” Suki breathed as she stood up slowly and stared at the projection that had her name written in large letters. “Floor 500!”

“How the hell did you manage that?” Cathica demanded. “I'm above you!”

“I just applied on the off chance. And they’ve said yes!” she squealed excitedly.

“That’s not fair.” Cathica frowned petulantly as she crossed her arms. “I’ve been applying to Floor 500 for three years.”

“What’s Floor 500?” Rose asked the Doctor and Serayah, who were watching the reactions with slight frowns.

“The walls are made of gold.” He replied absently, repeating what Cathica had told them.

They left the Newsroom, stopping by Suki’s flat for her to grab a bag of her possessions and going to the lift.

“Cathica, I’m going to miss you!” Suki said as she hugged Cathica tightly and let go, turning to the Doctor and Serayah. “Floor 500! Thank you both.”

“We didn’t do anything.” The Doctor told her, shrugging slightly.

“Well, you’re my lucky charm.” She told them with a sweet smile and excited laugh.

“All right. I’ll hug anyone.” The Doctor said cheerfully as Suki hugged him tightly.

Rose noticed Adam sitting on the side a short way away, looking slightly sick. With a quick nod to Serayah, the blonde walked over to him, concerned.

Cathica stubbornly looked anywhere but at Suki as the recently promoted woman pulled Serayah into a tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you thank you.” She squealed as they pulled away.

_“All staff are reminded that the sixteen forty break session has been shortened by ten minutes. Thank you.”_ A voice over the intercom announced.

“Oh, my God, I’ve got to go!” Suki exclaimed as she grabbed her bag.

The Doctor, Serayah and Rose, who joined them once more, watched her in amusement as Cathica watched with a bitter expression on her pretty features.

“I can't keep them waiting.” She got into the lift and turned to face them. “I'm sorry. Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!”

The lift door closed and they watched the Floor Indicator above the lift show its slow ascent.

“Good riddance!” Cathica muttered with her arms crossed, making the three of them turn to her in surprise.

“You’re talking like you’ll never see her again.” The Doctor said. “She’s only going upstairs.”

“We won’t.” Cathica told them, looking at the lift. “Once you go to Floor 500, you never come back.”

The Doctor and Serayah looked at the closed lift, brows furrowed.

“Have you ever been up there?” Serayah asked her as they walked back through the canteen area.

“I can’t.” she replied bitterly. “You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to 500 except for the chosen few.”

The three time travellers followed Cathica back to the Newsroom, the entire time, the Doctor and Serayah peppered her with questions about Satellite Five.

 “Look, they only give us 20 minutes maintenance.” Cathica said, grabbing a clipboard as they entered the room. “Can’t you give it a rest?”

“But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?” the Doctor probed, sitting on the broadcast chair and making himself comfortable, Serayah leaning her back against him as Rose stood behind the chair.

“I went to Floor 16 when I first arrived. That’s medical. That’s where I got my head done, and then I came straight here.” She replied, kneeling next to the seat Suki had been at. “Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor.” She made a few notes on her clipboard as she continued, “That’s it, that’s all.” She shrugged slightly and turned to look up at them, slowly standing up. “You’re not Management, are you?”

“At last! She’s clever!” The Doctor exclaimed in sarcastic excitement, Serayah nudging him lightly in response as Rose stifle a giggle.

“Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything.” She said firmly after a short pause, and going back to making notes on her clipboard as she looked at each seat and palm-print.

“Don’t you even ask?” Serayah asked, as they watched her work.

“Well, why would I?” Cathica asked in response, shrugging as she continued with her work.

“You're a journalist!” Serayah exclaimed, making Cathica look at them.

“Why's all the crew human?” the Doctor asked.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Cathica asked.

“There's no aliens on board.” He said. “Why?”

“I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything.”

The Doctor looked around the room theatrically as Rose eyed her with narrowed eyes.

“Then where are they?” Serayah asked her, as the Doctor turned back to the journalist.

“I suppose immigration's tightened up.” She replied slightly stumped, before adding defensively, “It's had to, what with all the threats.”

“What threats?” the Doctor asked.

“I don’t know – all of them. Usual stuff.” Cathica said with a slight shrug. “And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away...” she looked lost as she continued giving reasons, the three visitors watching her intently. “Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see.” She paused for a moment before returning to her clipboard and maintenance. “Just… lots of little reasons, that's all.”

“Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn’t even notice.” The Doctor said, making the woman turn to them.

“Doctor, Professor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything.”

“We can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology.” The Doctor told her.

“It’s cutting edge!” she ground out defensively.

“It’s backwards. There’s a great big door in your head!” the Doctor pointed out. “You should’ve chucked this out years ago.”

“So, what d’you two think is going on?” Rose asked, making the couple glance at her.

“It’s not just this space station, it’s the whole attitude. It’s the way the people think.” Serayah said with a frown. “The Great and Bountiful Human Empire has been stunted. Something’s holding it back.”

“And how would you two know?” Cathica asked with narrowed eyes, making the three look at her.

“Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years - when did Satellite Five start broadcasting?” the Doctor asked her.

“91 years ago.” She replied as the Doctor and Serayah nodded.

Cathica looked away thoughtfully.

“Right, then.” He said cheerfully, as he got up from the chair. “Off we go!”

“Go? Go where? Where are you going?” Cathica asked, firing of a series of questions as the three turned to leave the room.

“Find out what’s going on.” Serayah replied, glancing back at the journalist and taking her husbands’ arm as they walked out of the Newsroom.

Cathica followed a few minutes later.

“Is there a mainframe?” Serayah asked her.

“Yeah. It’s down this corridor and to the left, in an alcove.” Cathica replied, pointing down the corridor that was bustling with activity. “Behind a pair of double doors. Why?”

“Great. Let’s go.” The Doctor said cheerfully, ignoring the question, as he led the three woman to the double doors Cathica was pointing to.

He took out his screwdriver and began scanning the double doors.

“We are so gonna get in trouble!” Cathica moaned. She looked around in worry before turning back to whisper. “You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off.”

“Rose, tell her to button it.” The Doctor said, not looking away from the screwdriver.

“You can't just vandalise the place.” Cathica hissed. “Someone's going to notice!”

The Doctor pulled the doors open and looked at the wiring. He began poking and prodding at the nest of wires, making some of them let out sparks as he had fun, while Serayah subtly kept him from getting side-tracked. Cathica looked at them, wringing her hands in worry.

“This is nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work.” She said finally, turning and beginning to walk away.

“Go on then. See you!” The Doctor called to her, not looking away from the wires.

“I can’t just leave you, can I!” she exclaimed, turning back to them.

“If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling.” Rose said to her irritated, as she picked up a bundle of wires that were hanging out of the cupboard. She turned to the journalist and asked, “What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?”

“I don't know. We keep asking - something to do with the turbine.” Cathica replied, waving her hand.

“Something to do with the turbine!” the Doctor repeated mockingly.

“Well, I don’t know!” Cathica exclaimed, glaring at the Time Lord’s back.

“Exactly!” the Doctor exclaimed, turning around and looking at Cathica. “I give up on you, Cathica.”

“Look at Rose.” Serayah said, turning to the journalist as well and gesturing to the blonde that was behind the Time Lord. “Rose is asking the right kind of questions.’

“Oh, thank you.” Rose said with a smile.

“Why is it so hot?” the Doctor asked as he turned back to the nest of wires.

“One minute you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!” Cathica exclaimed, raising her hands in frustration.

“Never underestimate the plumbing.” Serayah said as the Doctor pulled at a mass of wires. “Plumbing is very important.”

“Oops.” The Doctor muttered as he accidentally snapped a bundle of wires.

Serayah groaned as Cathica looked away, exasperated.

“Okay, _Annwyl_ , move over.” Serayah said, nudging him out of the way and tying the back of her hair into a knot at the base of her neck so the long locks didn’t get in her way. “Let me fix this before you make it impossible.”

“That was _one_ time!” he exclaimed as he moved to the side.

“One time were you nearly sent UNIT’s entire network up in flames.” She replied as she began putting the wires together and securing them with the sonic screwdriver.

“You sent a network up in flames?” Rose asked incredulously, looking at the Time Lord.

“It wasn’t on purpose!” he said defensively as Serayah paused what she was doing and took off her purse, handing it to him.

“He’s right.” Serayah said absently, a concentrating frown on her beautiful face. “We were looking for a virus that was eating away at the core and causing massive amounts of power loss. _Annwyl,_ get my tablet from my bag, please.” He took out a black tablet from the deceptively small purse and handed it to her after turning it on. She took it without looking away from the nest of wires. “Thank you.” She hooked the tablet to a monitor and several wires, entering a series of commands as she hooked it up to the mainframe, making the connection on their end only so her device couldn’t be hacked into the way she was hacking into the Satellite’s computer core. “Okay, here you go.”

She stepped back and let the Doctor take over. He handed her purse back to her and began pulling up schematics of the Satellite.

“Here we go.” He showed Cathica the schematics. “Satellite Five - pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout.”

He got off the cupboard and handed let Cathica look at the tablet.

“This is ridiculous. You have access to the computer’s core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange…” Cathica said as she looked at the screen and turned back to them in confusion. “And you’re looking at pipes?”

“But there’s something wrong.” The Doctor said.

“I suppose.” Cathica said slowly, turning back to the screen.

“Why, what is it?” Rose asked.

“The ventilation system.” Cathica replied, glancing at Rose before looking back at the screen. “Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out - channelling massive amounts of heat down.” She looked up at the ceiling.

“All the way from the top.” Serayah added.

“Floor 500.” Rose concluded in realization as Cathica looked at them.

“Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat.” The Doctor said.

“Well, I don't know about you,” Rose started, “but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs.” Rose turned to the couple as she asked, “Fancy a trip?”

“You can't. You need a key.” Cathica reminded them.

“Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here.” Serayah said, gesturing to the tablet as she tapped out a few commands. “Here we go. Override 215.9.”

“How come it’s given _you_ the code?” Cathica asked them in dismay.

The Doctor looked up at the security camera as he said, “Someone up there likes us.”

Serayah unhooked her tablet from the mainframe and the monitor before hooking the wires back in their proper places, erasing any evidence of their little activity. She stepped back as the Doctor closed the panel and sonicked it locked once more.

“Okay, that’s done.” Serayah said, opening the knot in her hair and letting the locks tumble down freely once more, held back by her braided headband. “Let’s go join the party.”

They went to the lift, Cathica reluctantly following them.

“Come on.” Rose said to Cathica, seeing her stop outside the lift as the three time travellers entered. “Come with us.”

“No way!” Cathica replied adamantly, shaking her head.

“Bye!” the Doctor said cheerfully.

“Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me.” Cathica stalked off as the three of them exchanged looks.

“That’s her gone.” The Doctor commented as they watched her go. “Adam’s given up. Looks like it’s just the three of us.”

“Yeah.” Rose said softly, smiling at the two of them.

“Good.” The Doctor said.

“Yep.” Serayah chirped as she looped her arm through his.

Serayah slid a card into the control panel as the Doctor reached his hand out to Rose, who took it with a smile.

They were silent as the lift took them up to Floor 500. The door opened and they walked out, the Doctor in front of the two women.

“The walls are not made of gold.” The Doctor said quietly. “You should go back downstairs. Both of you.”

“Tough.” Rose said, striding out of the elevator, followed by Serayah.

“When have I ever listened to you when you told me to stay behind?” Serayah asked as she stood beside him.

“Very rarely.” He replied with a small smile, looking down at her.

“Exactly.” She chirped, taking his hand as they walked forward.

They walked around for a few minutes before coming across a small flight of stairs, leading to an upper level. Climbing up, they found a man with pale skin and hair wearing a suit watching the large screens as a line of people sat in a row with smaller screens in front of them.

“I started without you.” The man said to them as they stopped at the top of the stairs. He chuckled lightly as he continued. “This is fascinating!” he turned back to the screens as they walked forwards slightly. “Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire… birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements - but you three, you don't exist. Not a trace. No birth, no job,” he glanced at the Doctor’s and Serayah’s wedding rings, “no marriage certificate, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?”

“Suki!” Rose cried as she spotted the sweet young woman. She ran to her and crouched next to the chair. “Suki!” she put her hand on the woman’s arm only to flinch at the cold touch. “Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?” she asked, not getting any response. She turned and glared at the man, demanding, “What have you done to her?”

“I think she's dead.” Serayah said softly.

“She's working.” Rose said, looking at the consoles.

“They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets.” The Doctor explained.

“Oh! You're full of information!” the pale man said in slight amusement. “But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something.” He chuckled as the couple nodded. “Who are you?”

“It doesn't matter, because we're off.” The Doctor replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Come on.” Serayah said to Rose, who nodded and stood up, turning to walk towards them.

Suki reached out and grabbed Rose’s hand as two other zombies grabbed the Doctor’s arms. He struggled against the grip they had on him as one grabbed Serayah from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. She head butted her captor, causing the zombie to loosen his grip around her slightly, allowing her to slip out from the hold. She gave the zombie a roundhouse kick, sending him flying to the side as another came up to her from the side. Without losing her momentum, she twirled on the balls of her foot and kicked that one as well, sending her flying into the wall.

“Ooohhh, feisty, this one.” The pale man said with a smile as he watched Serayah duck under the reach of another zombie, elbowing him in the knee and causing him to stumble. The man turned to the Doctor and said with a grin, “I see why you married her.” He turned back to Serayah, holding a hand to the Doctor’s throat. “If you want your husband to live, than I suggest you stop fighting.”

Serayah froze, looking at the man’s hand on her husbands’ throat. She glared at him as she let two zombies grab hold of her arms.

“Just to be on the safe side,” he said calmly, “maybe a few more should hold you.” He gestured with his free hand and two more grabbed her as well, pinning her arms to the side and holding her in place. “Now, tell me who you are!” He said persistently, removing his hand from the Doctor’s throat and looking at the couple.

“Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I.” the Doctor retorted.

“Well, perhaps my Editor-in-Chief can convince you otherwise.” The man said, smiling at the couple.

“And who’s that?” Serayah asked.

“It may interest you to know that this is _not_ the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire.” The man said in a conspiratorial whisper before letting out a chuckle as he continued. “In fact, it's not actually human at all! It's merely a place where humans happen to live.” There was a growl and a snarl echoing around them as a creature spoke, sounding angry. “Yeah.” The man mouthed, ‘Sorry’ to the Doctor and Serayah as he listened to the growls, turning away slightly. “Yeah.” The three time travellers exchanged confused looks as the man turned back to them. “Sorry, it's a place where humans are _allowed_ to live by kind permission of my client.”

He pointed upward and the three of them looked up as well.

In the ceiling, there was a large pseudopod creature with a mouth full of sharp, snapping shark-like teeth.

“What is that?” Rose asked slightly nervous.

“You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?” the Doctor asked dismayed.

“That _thing_ , as you put it, is in charge of the human race.” The man corrected as the three looked at him. “For almost 100 years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe.” The Jagrafess roared. “I call him Max.” the man finished with a large smile, looking as if he were moments away from squealing in excitement.

The Doctor gave the man a sarcastic smile as a few of the zombies came up to them with manacles, chaining them up side-by-side and with their hands up by their shoulders, the Doctor between the two women.

“Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed.” The man said as they glared at him. “It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote.”

“So all the people on Earth are like, slaves.” Rose said.

“Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?” the man asked philosophically.

“Yes.” The Doctor and Serayah replied in deadpan unison, having seen slavery first hand on many planets, not just Earth in the past.

“Oh.” The man said with a slight pout. “I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? ‘Yes’?”

“Yes.” The two of them replied again, in deadpan unison and glaring at him fiercely.

“You're no fun.” The man chuckled.

“Let me out of these manacles. You’ll find out how much fun I am.” Serayah threatened.

“Oh, not just feisty, but tough as well.” The man chuckled, earning another glare from the tiny woman. “But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit.”

“You can’t hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed.” Rose said.

“From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it.” The man replied. “Then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual, when of course, they're not - they're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing.”

The three of them saw Cathica behind the man’s back.

“What about you?” Rose asked. “You're not a Jagra-a-belly-”

“Jagrafess.” Serayah supplied when Rose stumbled over the name.

“Jagrafess.” Rose repeated. “You’re not a Jagrafess. You’re human.”

“Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well.” The man sneered in reply.

“But you couldn't have done this all on your own.” Rose pointed out.

“No!” the man chuckled. “I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to, um,” he lowered his voice to a whisper as he finished his sentence, “install himself.”

“No wonder, a creature that size.” Serayah said, glancing up and asking in a slightly raised voice. “What's his life span?”

“3000 years.”

“That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool - it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system.” The Doctor stated.

“But that's why you're so dangerous.” The man said, pointing to the couple in particular. “Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown.” He snapped his fingers and electrical energy surged through the manacles. The three of them clenched their teeth in pain, not wanting to scream and give the man the satisfaction. “Who are you?”

A minute, which felt like an age, passed and the man snapped his fingers once again ending the surge.

“Leave her alone.” The Doctor panted. “We’re the Doctor and the Professor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering.”

“Tell me who you are!” the Editor yelled.

“He just said, you idiot!” Serayah yelled back.

“Professor, I don’t think calling him an idiot is going to help us.” Rose said, panting slightly.

“Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly-” he stopped short. The Doctor and Serayah looked at him questioningly as an ominous smile crossed his face. He stretched his hands out to the Doctor and Serayah, “Time Lord! Guardian Confessor!”

The three travellers looked at him in fearful shock.

“What?” The Doctor asked in shock.

“Oh, yes.” The man said. “The Last of the Time Lords and the Last of the Guardian Confessors in their travelling machine.” He looked at Rose and reached a hand out to her cheek, making her turn her head away from his touch. “Oh, with their little human girl from long ago.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Serayah spat at him.

“Time travel.” He said, looking at the feisty woman.

“Someone's been telling you lies.” The Doctor said.

“Young Master Adam Mitchell?” the man asked, moving back slightly and snapping his fingers.

A hollo-monitor appeared in front of them showing Adam in a broadcast chair, screaming and writhing in pain as the beam of compressed information streamed into is head.

“Oh, my God. His head!” Rose whispered in horror.

“What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done?” the Doctor shouted, looking at the monitor in anger.

“They're reading his mind.” Serayah exclaimed in anger. “He's telling them everything.”

“And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you two have infinite knowledge, Doctor, Professor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you both have seen in your T-A-R-D-I-S. TARDIS.”

“Well, you’ll never get your hands on it. I’ll die first.” The Doctor growled.

“Die all you like.” The man said shrugging. “I don't need you. I've got the key.”

They watched as the TARDIS key floated out of Adam’s pocket and hung in the air.

“You and your boyfriends!” the Doctor growled at Rose angrily.

“You gave him the key to our home!” Serayah exclaimed, looking around her husband to the blonde on his other side. “Would you have done the same if it were the key to your flat?”

“Today, _we_ are the headlines.” The Editor said before Rose could respond to the furious Guardian Confessor. “We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing.”

“And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold.” The Doctor sneered as an alarm sounded.

“What’s happening?” the Editor questioned two of the zombies at the console. “Someone’s disengaged the safety.” He snapped his fingers and an image appeared on the hollo-monitor – Cathica, sitting in the broadcast chair as the beam of compressed information streamed into her mind. “Who’s that?”

“It's Cathica.” Rose exclaimed with glee.

“And she’s thinking.” The Doctor added with a wide grin and the same amount of glee. “She’s using what she knows.”

“Terminate her access.” The Editor frantically told Suki.

“Everything we had told her about Satellite Five.” Serayah said. “The pipes, the filters-she’s reversing it. Look at that!” Serayah gestured to the melting icicles. “It’s getting hot.”

“I said terminate her!” the Editor growled to Suki. “Burn out her mind.”

There were sparks behind the monitors as the consoles exploded, the Editor being thrown back and the dead operators collapsing lifeless. The entire Satellite shuddered as alarms went off throughout the space station. Rose and Serayah’s manacles came lose, allowing them to slip out. The Jagrafess roared as the Editor frantically tried to get the dead operators to sit up right again.

“She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano.” The Doctor laughed as the Jagrafess roared.

“Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea!” The Editor said frantically, pushing Suki out of her seat and sitting down.

“I have an idea.” Serayah said. She took the sonic screwdriver from the Doctor’s jacket pocket and handed it to Rose. “Get him out of his manacles. I’m turning up the heat.”

The beautiful woman stepped back and let her wings unfurl, spreading them out and launching herself up towards the Jagrafess.

“What do I do?” Rose asked the Doctor frantically, looking at the screwdriver in her hand.

“Flick the switch!” he replied frantically.

Serayah created a large ball of fire, she threw it directly into the roaring creatures’ mouth before creating another one much larger than the first and making it hover in the air as she gently floated down to the ground.

“Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty?” the Doctor called to the Editor, who looked at him. “Massive heat in a massive body - massive bang. See you in the headlines!”

Finally free, the three of them ran out of the room, Serayah pausing for a moment to disperse the large orb of fire before following her husband and Companion out of the room. They ran across Floor 500, avoiding massive chunks of falling ice and snow. They ran to the Floor 500 Newsroom Cathica was in and saw her sitting in the broadcast chair, her eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her face.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and as her portal closed, Cathica opened her eyes. She looked at the Time Lord who gave her a gentle smile and helped her off the chair. The four of them ran to the lift and went back down to Floor 139.

There, they saw people helping the injured, and though there was still plenty of commotion and chaos, they focused on what they could do at the moment.

Seeing the injured, Serayah pulled a medical kit from her purse.

“How did you fit that in there?” Cathica asked her in amazement. “You had done the same with the tablet earlier as well.”

“Yeah, I’m curious about that too.” Rose said.

“Bigger on the inside.” Serayah said with a smile, handing her purse to her husband and going to a group of injured people.

The next few hours passed in similar fashion, Serayah helping the injured, the Doctor answering as many of Cathica’s questions as possible without messing the timelines and Rose switching between the two.

As dawn rose over Mother Earth, Serayah sat next to the Doctor, having done what she could.

“We’re just going to go.” He told Cathica, who was sitting across from him in the canteen.

“As much as I love being able to use medical knowledge to help the injured, he hates tidying up.” Serayah added, removing her heels and massaging her aching feet.

“Yeah, too many questions.” The Doctor agreed, putting an arm around Serayah. “You’ll manage.” He added reassuringly to Cathica.

“You'll have to stay and explain it.” Cathica insisted. “No one's going to believe me.”

“Oh, you’ll find they might start believing a lot of things now.” Serayah reassured her. “The human race should accelerate. All back to normal.”

“What about your friend?” Cathica asked, gesturing to where Adam was leaning back against the TARDIS.

“He’s not our friend.” The Doctor growled as he stood up, holding a hand out to Serayah.

“Now, don’t…” Rose started as the couple walked past her.

“I'm all right now. Much better.” Adam said with a shaky smile as he saw the angry looks on the two aliens’ faces as they stalked towards him. “And I've got the key.” He held up the key and pointed at it. “Look, it's... It all worked out for the best, didn't it? ” He chuckled nervously as Serayah reached up and grabbed hold of his ear while the Doctor grabbed the key from his hand and unlocked the TARDIS. “You know, it's not actually my fault, because you two were in charge…” Serayah dragged him in through the open doors, the couple ignoring him entirely, and followed him in with Rose slipping in silently.

One quick trip through the Vortex later, where the couple ignored Adam entirely, Serayah grabbed hold of his ear once more and dragged him out of the TARDIS with the Doctor half a step behind her and Rose following suit, shutting the doors behind her.

“It's my house. I'm home! Oh, my God, I'm home!” Adam chuckled as he took in their surroundings before turning to the still silent and furious couple. “Blimey! I thought you two were going to chuck me out of an airlock.”

“Is there something else you want to tell us?” the Doctor asked him.

“No. What do you mean?” Adam asked.

Serayah went to the telephone and picked it up.

“The archive of Satellite Five.” She told him. “One second of that message could’ve changed the world.”

Adam looked at them with a caught out expression as Serayah out the machine back in its place. The Doctor tossed his screwdriver at her and, catching it, she sonicked the machine. Rose and Adam flinched as it exploded in a shower of sparks as she tossed the screwdriver back to her husband, who put it in his pocket.

“That’s it then See you.” She said, crossing the small space back to the TARDIS.

“How do you mean, see you?” Adam asked

“As in goodbye.” The Doctor said.

“What about me?” Adam asked them. “You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip Type 2. My head opens.”

“What, like this?” the Doctor asked, snapping his fingers and making the portal in Adam’s head open.

“Don't.” Adam said angrily, snapping his own fingers and closing the portal.

“Don't do what?” Serayah asked snapping her fingers, making it open once again.

“Stop it!” Adam shouted, closing it.

“All right now, Doctor, Professor, that's enough. Stop it.” Rose said to them.

“Thank you.” Adam said gratefully to the pretty blonde, who smiled and snapped her fingers. “Oi!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” She said with a slight laugh as Adam closed the portal.

“The whole of history could have changed because of you.” Serayah told Adam in quiet anger.

“I just wanted to help.” Adam pleaded.

“You were helping yourself.” The Doctor snapped.

“And I'm sorry. I've said I'm sorry, and I am, I really am, but you can't just leave me like this.” Adam pleaded.

“Yes we can. 'Cause if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck.” The Doctor replied as he opened the door and stepped back for his wife to enter.

“But I want to come with you.” Adam said.

“We only take the best.” Serayah replied, stopping in the doorway of the TARDIS. “We’ve got Rose.” She entered the TARDIS followed by her husband.

The front door opened and closed as Adam’s mother entered the home.

“Rose, Rose. Oh, my God!” Adam said.

“Whose that? Geoff, is that you?” Mrs. Mitchell called.

“It’s me, mum.” Adam called. “Don’t come in. wait there a minute.”

“Oh, my Lord. You never told me you were coming home!” Mrs. Mitchell exclaimed. “Hold on, I'll just take my coat off. You should've told me you were coming home. I would've got your favourite tea in.”

“Rose, take me with you.” Adam whispered pleadingly as Serayah and the Doctor started up the TARDIS’ engines. Rose looked at him for a long moment before turning and going inside, shutting the door behind her. Adam watched as the TARDIS dematerialized, leaving him behind in 2012.

“Hey, what's that noise? Have you left the back door open? Blimey, there's a draft.” Mrs. Mitchell called through the door before entering and looking at her son happily. “What a surprise. Oh, let me look at you. Oh, six months. It's like I saw you yesterday. Isn't it funny? The time goes by like that.”

She snapped her fingers and her eyes went wide in shock as she saw a door open in her son’s head, showing part of his brain.


	9. Father's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose asks the Doctor and Serayah to take her back to the day her father Pete Tyler died in a hit and run accident, but when she saves him, she creates a paradox. Flying creatures known as Reapers appear and attempt to treat the wound in time and space by consuming everyone in it. Everyone hides in a church while the Doctor and Serayah try to summon the TARDIS. Jackie accuses Pete of having another daughter, and to prove that Rose is the same as the baby Rose, he puts the baby in the older Rose's arms, causing a bigger paradox, and the Doctor and Serayah are taken by the Reapers. Pete realizes he must die for everything to be repaired, and throws himself in front of the car, which has been appearing and reappearing around the corner of the church, causing the Doctor and Serayah to return.

**Season 1 Episode 8 - Father's Day**

****

Serayah walked barefoot into the Console Room of the TARDIS wearing a two piece amethyst purple tankini bathing suit (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/424745808589354826/>) and drying her long hair with a heated hand, something she had learned to do as a Tot and she didn’t want to spend several minutes towelling her hair. She had just come out of the swimming pool after swimming a few laps.

“Peter Alan Tyler my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th September 1954.” She heard Rose say as she leaned against the console with a photograph in her hand, while the Doctor sat on the jump seat. “That's what Mum always says. So I was thinking, could we, could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?”

“What’s going on?” Serayah asked, flying up to perch on a coral pillar behind the Doctor.

“Rose wants to see her father when he was still alive.” The Doctor replied, playing with a ball.

“Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?” Serayah asked, looking at the young blonde in concern.

“All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, just leave it.” Rose said sadly.

“No, I can do anything.” The Doctor replied gently.

“We’re just more worried about you.” Serayah told her gently, jumping off the coral and coming to stand in front of the taller girl.

“I want to see him.” She whispered.

“Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for.” The Doctor replied with a smile as he jumped up and started the TARDIS’ engines, sending them into the Time Vortex.

As the Doctor piloted the TARDIS, Serayah went to her room to change out of her swimsuit. Returning to the console room several minutes later, this time dressed in a black floral printed saree trimmed with a gold border pinned to her left shoulder, a black cap-sleeved blouse that showed off her midriff and gold and black chandelier earrings (<https://www.pinterest.com/pin/474566879474196752/>) that flattered her hour-glass figure with a black Michael Kors leather cross-body bag hanging off her right shoulder (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879477252973/>). On her feet were a pair of black 6” Jimmy Choo high heels (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879476846801/>). Her long hair was pulled into a topsy-turvy faux fishtail braid (<https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/320248223485722348/>) tied at the bottom with a gold ribbon.

When they landed, Rose spared a glance of gratitude at the couple before rushing out. Exchanging looks, the two ran out behind her, wanting to keep her in sight.

“What day is it?” Rose asked them as they took in their surroundings. When they told her, she said in a soft tone, “It’s my parent’s wedding day.” She looked off in the distance. “They’re getting married in the Registrar’s office, the one there.”

“Well, come on.” Serayah said with a gentle smile to the younger woman. “Let’s go see your parents get married.” She paused for a moment and muttered, “Never thought I’d say _that_.”

“You mean, just like _honeymoon_ and _permission slip_?” the Doctor asked her pointedly, making her blush.

“What are talking about?” Rose asked, looing between the two in confusion.

“Long story.” Serayah replied quickly as she gently tugged the blonde toward the office.

They quietly entered, taking seats at the back with Rose sitting next to Serayah, who was next to the Doctor.

“I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Angela Suzette Prentice…” the Registrar was saying to the groom.

“I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline… Suzanne,” he stammered over the bride’s middle names, “Suzette… Anita…” he helplessly looked at the Registrar for help as Jackie narrowed her eyes slightly at her groom.

“Oh, just carry on. It’s good enough for Lady Di.” Jackie said to the Registrar.

“I thought he’d be taller.” Rose whispered to them as they watched the Registrar continue the ceremony.

“To be my lawful wedded wife, to love and behold till death us do part.” The Registrar coached Peter.

As they watched the ceremony, Serayah gently squeezed the blonde girl’s hands where they were clenched tightly in her lap, slowly loosening the tight hold and interlocking their fingers.

After the ceremony, they snuck out of the office the same way they snuck in and returned to the TARDIS as Rose told them about the day her father died. How it had been a hit-and-run driver and they never found out who it was; how he had died so close to home but there had been no-one with him as he died and the ambulance getting there too late to save him.

“I want to be that someone,” Rose pleaded with them earnestly as they stood by the TARDIS’ console. “So he won’t die alone.”

“November 7th?” The Doctor asked after exchanging a long look with his wife.

“1987.” Rose confirmed.

The Doctor started up the Time Rotor and took them to November 7th, 1987. Rose looked at the rotor with equal hope and fear. Serayah, seeing the look on the young blonde’s face, put her arm around her and gently tugged her back towards the jump-seat and making her sit down. They materialized between a telephone box and a road sign, Waterley Street, by park railings.

Rose slowly walked out of the box, followed by Serayah and the Doctor, who closed the door behind them. Rose looked around the street.

“It's so weird. The day my father died.” Rose said softly. “I thought it'd be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day.”

“The past is another country.” The Doctor said. “1987’s just the Isle of Wight.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Serayah asked, looking up into the girl’s eyes.

“Yeah.” She said firmly, and quietly leading them around the corner. “This is it, Jordan Road.” She said, her voice still quiet. “He was late. He'd been to get a wedding present, a vase.” Her voice broke as she said, “Mum always said, ‘that stupid vase.’” They turned and watched as a green van came around the corner. “He got out of his car…” the van pulled up to the curb. “And crossed the road.” They watched as Pete parked the car and picked up the vase from the passenger seat. “Oh, God, this is it.”

As they watched Pete get out of the car, Serayah and the Doctor took each of Rose’s hands and held them. They watched as a beige car came around the corner and head straight toward the oblivious man. He turned and his eyes widened as the car came towards him, the driver’s own eyes widening and he threw an arm over his face as he hit Pete. The vase fell from Pete’s hand, breaking as Pete hit the ground as well and struggled to move in the middle of the road.

“Go to him, quick.” The Doctor told her softly.

Rose just stared at the struggling figure of her dying father, unable to move. With a gasp and tears in her eyes, she wrenched her grip from the Doctor and Serayah and ran down the road. The followed her and found her a few moments later leaning against a brick wall, tears in her eyes.

“It’s too late now.” She said, her voice breaking, as they heard sirens. “By the time the ambulance got there, he was dead.” She took a deep breath, her tears smudging her mascara, and looked at the two of them. “He can’t die on his own.” She repeated what she had said earlier as they looked at her, understanding her pain. “Can I try again?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Doctor, Serayah and Rose looked around the corner to see themselves standing by the curb side as they waited.

“Right, that’s the first us.” The Doctor said quietly to Rose. “It’s a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time.”

“Just be careful they don’t see us.” Serayah warned. “Wait until she runs off and they follow, then go to your dad.”

Rose nodded as Pete’s van pulled up and parked at the curb.

“Oh, God, this is it.” They heard the first Rose say.

“I can’t do this.” Rose said shakily.

“You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but this is the last time we can be here.” Serayah told her gently.

Rose breathed heavily as they watched Pete pick up the vase from the passenger seat. Without a second thought, Rose ran forward as Pete got out of the van.

“Rose! No!” the Doctor and Serayah yelled in alarm as Rose dashed past their earlier selves, who gave her confused looks.

Rose pushed her father out of the path of the oncoming beige car, tumbling to the ground and Rose landing on top of him as the car sped past. The vase slipped out of Pete’s hand and rolling away, unbroken. As Rose got off him, the earlier versions of the time travellers disappeared.

Serayah and the Doctor stared in utter horror as they watched Rose and Pete.

“I did it!” Rose exclaimed in happy relief. “I saved your life!”

“Blimey, did you see the speed of it?” Pete asked as the two of them slowly got up. “Did you get his number?”

“I really did it. Oh, my God, look at you. You're alive! That car was going to kill you.” Rose breathed, still shocked that she had managed to save her father.

“Give me some credit, I did see it coming.” Pete muttered defensively. “I wasn’t going to walk under it, was I?”

“I’m Rose.” She said, looking at her father expectantly as if waiting for familiarity or recognition. She received neither.

“That's a coincidence. That's my daughter's name.” Pete said with a slight laugh.

“That's a great name. Good choice. Well done.” Rose babbled with a happy grin as Pete gave a slightly awkward chuckle.

“Right, I'd better shift. I've got a wedding to go to.” Pete said.

“Is that Sarah Clarke’s wedding?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, are you going?” Pete asked.

“Yeah.” Rose said, nodding.

“You, your boyfriend and his friend need a lift?” he asked, gesturing to the corner where the Doctor and Serayah were looking at Rose darkly.

Serayah raised an eyebrow when she heard what Pete referred to her as. She wasn’t fazed by her husband being called Rose’s boyfriend, many of their Companions over the years have gained crushes on them. There were the odd times when they had been mistaken as a Companion’s boyfriend or girlfriend over the years as well, so it wasn’t a very big deal for the pair.

“Sure!” Rose exclaimed happily.

The four of them piled into the van, the Doctor and Serayah in the backseat while Rose sat in the passenger seat next to her father.

“You won’t mind if we stop by my flat so I can change, would you?” Pete asked as they drove.

“No, it’s okay.” Rose replied, the couple staying silent.

The two aliens interlocked their fingers, silently using each other as support to keep their anger at bay over Rose’s actions.

The rest of the ride was silent, Rose oblivious to the couple’s anger as she basked in the knowledge that her father was alive as she stared at him as unobtrusively as possible.

“Right, there we go.” Pete said, letting them into his flat several minutes later and placing the vase on the floor by the door, Rose following him. “Sorry about the mess. If you want a cup of tea, the kitchens’ just down there,” he pointed towards the kitchen as he continued, the Doctor closing the door behind him and Serayah. “Milk’s in the fridge.” The couple stood beside Rose as Pete turned slightly sheepish. “Well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk? Mind you, there's always the window sill outside. I always thought if someone invented a window sill with special compartments, you know, one for milk, one for yogurt, make a lot of money out of that. Sell it to students and things.” He looked away thoughtfully as Rose looked at him with delight and the Doctor and Serayah smiled politely. “I should write that down. Anyway, never mind that, excuse me for a minute. Got to go and change.”

The Doctor gave him a polite smile as he went to the bedroom, Rose looked around the flat, taking in the items that covered nearly every surface.

“All the stuff Mum kept. His stuff.” Rose said softly looking at everything as the Doctor and Serayah leaned against the wall with their arms crossed, frowning at the oblivious blonde. “She kept it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard. She used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink.” She gave them a small smile, not noticing the anger on their faces. “Here it is, on display. Where it _should_ be.” She smiled at them, picking up a trophy and held it up to them “Third prize at the bowling. First two got to go to Didcot.” She held it for a few seconds before replacing it as her eyes were drawn to several large jerry cans filled with liquid. “Health drinks.” She exclaimed, crouching by the large bottles. “Tonics, mum used to call them. He made his money selling this Vitex stuff. He had all sorts of jobs. He was so clever.” The Doctor and Serayah stayed silent as she stood up and walked around. “Solar power.” She tapped her fingers against several paper schematics that were on the table. “Mum said he was going to do this. Now he can.” She looked at them and smiled, finally taking in their displeasure when they don’t return the smile. “Okay, look I'll tell him you're not my boyfriend. And that the two of you are married.”

“When we met, I said ‘travel with us in space.’ You said, ‘No.’ Then I said ‘Time machine.’” He said leadingly.

“It wasn’t some big plan. I just saw it happening and I thought, I can stop it.” Rose explained softly.

The Doctor smiled disparagingly as Serayah shook her head.

“We did it again, Ayah.” The Doctor said looking at his wife before looking at Rose and continuing. “We picked another stupid ape. We should've known. It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you.”

“So it's okay when _you_ go to other times, and _you_ save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad?” Rose asked, taken aback.

“ _We_ know what we’re doing, you don't.” Serayah told her strongly. “Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point.”

“But he’s alive!” Rose exclaimed.

“Our entire planet’s died, our whole family.” The Doctor reminded her. “Do you think it never occurred to us to go back and save them?”

“But it’s not like I’ve changed history.” Rose protested. “Not much. I mean, he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War Three or anything.”

“Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different _because_ he's alive.” The Doctor tried to explain gently to the stubborn woman.

“What, would you rather him dead?” Rose asked him.

“We’re not saying that.” the Doctor denied.

“No, I get it!” Rose said angrily. “For once, _you're_ not the most important man in my life.”

Serayah and the Doctor stared at her in shock as Rose glared at them.

“One, I never wanted to be that.” The Doctor said in quiet anger. “Two, let’s see how you get on without me.” He held out his hand to her. “Give me the key.”

 “The TARDIS key.” Serayah elaborated when she looked at them in slight confusion. “If we’re so insignificant, give it back.”

“All right then, I will.” She snapped, taking the key out of her pocket and handing it to the Time Lord.

“You've got what you wanted, so that's goodbye, then.” The Doctor said, and the couplet turned and made their way out of the flat.

“You don’t scare me.” Rose yelled, moving to stand in front of them, blocking their way out. They stared at her in silence as she continued in a quieter voice, “I know how sad you two are. You'll both be back in a minute, or you'll hang around outside the TARDIS waiting for me.” They walked around her to the door without saying a word. “And I'll make you wait a long time!” she yelled as they left the flat and slammed the door behind them, leaning back against the wall with a sigh.

“Boy-friend trouble?” Pete asked, poking his head out of his bedroom door.

“Friend trouble.” Rose replied. “They’re married to each other. We were travelling together and I think they left me.”

Serayah walked slightly ahead of her husband, fuming silently, as they headed back to Waterley Street where the TARDIS was parked. She had honestly thought Rose was different from other humans, that she would have a friend with them once again, much like how Barbara Wright, Sarah Jane, Jo Grant and many others had been over the years. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see her husband looking down at her with his beautiful baby blue eyes filled with love.

Cupping her delicate face with his large hands, he used the pads of his thumbs to gently wipe the tears that she didn’t even know were falling.

“It’s not just Rose saving her father, is it?” he asked her softly, looking into her amethyst eyes.

“I miss them.” She whispered brokenly. “I miss them so much.”

“I miss them too.” He whispered, pulling her into a tight hug. “I miss them too.”

He didn’t need to ask who she was talking about. She wasn’t just talking about their families and their people, but the Companions that they had left or lost over the years.

“Does it bother you?” he asked after a few minutes, pulling away from her slightly.

“Does what bother me?” she asked in confusion as they slowly began walking, the Doctor with his arm around her and holding her close.

“That sometimes people tend to think that we’re not together.” He said. “Like when Pete thought I was Rose’s boyfriend. Does it bother you?”

“No.” Serayah replied honestly. She stopped walking, making him stop as well and turn to her. “You already know this.” She said softly, looking up into his eyes. “Why are you asking me this now?” he didn’t reply, turning to look away instead. She lifted her dainty hand and cupped his cheek, gently making him look back at her. “Is this about what Rose said?” he stayed silent, shifting his eyes away from her large orbs. “Look at me.” She said softly. “Eta, look at me.” She waited until he looked at her. “If I had a problem with it, if it bothered me, I would’ve said something centuries ago.” She smiled gently, making her face glow as she looked up at the man who held her heart and soul in his strong hands. “As what Rose had said, you made it very clear from the beginning that you had no interest in her, despite how much you would enjoy riling Mickey up.” They both laughed lightly, breaking the tension.

“I love you.” He said, looking into her eyes as they reflected his own feelings back at him. “So much.”

“I love you, too.” She said. “So much.”

He kissed her softly and tenderly before pulling back and taking her hand, interlocking their fingers. They resumed walking, this time without the tension that had plagued them a few minutes earlier. They turned the corner onto Waterley Street and walked towards the TARDIS. Stopping outside the doors, the pair looked up at the sky through the tree branches hanging above them as a bird cawed in the distance. Serayah frowned, the TARDIS was unusually quiet.

“Does she seem quiet?” Serayah asked with a frown.

”You’re right, something isn’t right.” The Doctor replied, taking his key and unlocking the doors.

He gently pushed the door, freezing when both panels moved with the gentle touch. He pushed them opened and his eyes widened as he saw the empty telephone box. The TARDIS was gone, all that was left was the ordinary police telephone box. Serayah covered her mouth in horror as the Doctor went inside and touched the four walls that made up the interior of the police box. He stepped back outside and the couple stared at each other in shock before realization struck them.

“Rose!” they shouted in unison, before running back in the direction they came from, heading back towards the flat.

The flat was empty when they arrived and the Doctor turned to his wife.

“Do you remember if they said where they were going to be?” he asked as he tried to remember himself.

“St. Paul’s Church.” She said after a moment and the two ran once again, this time headed to the church. “Sarah Clarke’s wedding.”

They ran as fast as they could for several minutes.

“Rose!” the Doctor yelled after they turned the final corner and they saw Rose with their back to them.

“Rose!” Serayah yelled as Rose turned to them with satisfied smile on her face. “Get in the church!”

Rose’s smile faded as Serayah and the Doctor looked into the sky. Rose followed their line of sight and saw as a large creature with bat-like wings with a devilish appearance appeared in the sky.

Rose screamed as the creature hissed and swooped down to her. The Doctor pushed her to the ground just in time to narrowly avoid the creatures’ talons.

“Get in the church!” the Doctor yelled as he and Rose scrambled up.

Jackie picked up baby Rose’s carry cot as Serayah herded the frightened guests towards the old building. The small group of bridesmaids, bride, and three time travellers stopped short as two more creatures appeared above the church.

“Oh, my God! What are they?” Suzie cried in fear. “What are they?”

Some of the guests that were in the church came out to see what the commotion was.

“Inside!” Serayah yelled to the group of the church’s front steps as she and the Doctor stood in front of the small group at the gate.

“Sarah!” Stuart yelled as he came out of the church and started to run towards his bride.

“Stay in there!” the Doctor yelled at him, making him freeze in his place as the creature turned towards the group on the church’s steps.

Stuart’s father, seeing the creatures, tries to run in fear but the creature pounces on him, making him disappear with a scream. Sarah tried to run to the church, but was blocked by one of the creatures. She screamed as it approached her, causing it to fly off. It attacked the Vicar instead, who screamed as he disappeared.

“In!” Serayah yelled, ushering the terrified party inside the building, the couple making sure that they stayed at the very back of the group to keep the creatures from attacking from behind.

As soon as the last person entered, the Doctor slammed the large doors shut. The terrified party chattered to each other in fright.

“They can't get in.” Serayah said as they saw the creatures flying around outside, making them all turn to look at her. “Old windows and doors. The older something is, the stronger it is.”

“Go and check the other doors!” the Doctor ordered some of the guests as he and Serayah split up and taking one side of the church and began checking the doors. “Move!”

“What’s happening?” Jackie asked frantically, following the Doctor as he checked each door on his side. “What are they? What are they?”

“There’s been an accident in time. A wound in time.” He replied, going to the next door as Jackie followed him.

“They’re like bacteria, taking advantage.” Serayah said from the other side of the room, making Jackie whirl around to look at her.

“What do you mean, time? What are you jabbering about, time?” Jackie hounded them, looking between the two.

 “Oh, I might've known _you'd_ argue. Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining -” The Doctor said to her.

“How’d you know my name?” Jackie shouted, cutting him off as Serayah groaned at their predictable arguing.

“We haven’t got time for this -” the Doctor spoke over her shouting.

“I’ve never met you in my life!” Jackie yelled at him, cutting him off again.

“No, and you never will unless my wife and I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this.” He said to her before standing up to his full height and looking down at the woman sternly. “.Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go-and-check-the-doors.”

Serayah bit her lip as she watched her husband pointed in the direction of the doors, his voice loud and commanding.

“Yes, sir.” Jackie breathed and walked away as he grinned, looking very pleased with himself.

 “I should’ve done that ages ago.” He said, grinning and looking very pleased with himself.

“That was kind of sexy.” Serayah said, walking to him as he winked at her in response as the groom came up to them.

“My dad was out there.” He told them, making the playful mood evaporate instantly.

“You can mourn him later. Right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive.” The Doctor told him firmly.

“My dad had…” Stuart started to say.

“There’s _nothing_ we can do for him.” The Doctor said, cutting the man off.

“No,” Stuart said desperately as he held up a phone from the current decade. “But he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice.”

The Doctor took the phone and dialled a number, holding it up to his ear.

_“Watson, come here. I need you. Watson, come here. I need you.”_

Serayah and the Doctor exchanged amazed looks.

“That’s the very first phone call.” Serayah breathed, her eyes wide in amazement. “Alexander Graham Bell.”

“I don’t think the telephone’s going to be much use.” The Doctor said, handing the phone back to Stuart and turned to check the door behind the Pastor’s podium.

“But someone must’ve called the police!” Stuart called after him.

 “Police can't help you now. No one can.” Serayah said as Pete glanced up at them from where he was crouched over Baby Rose’s carry cot on the round. Rose looked at the couple as they did what they could to keep them safe for the time being with a guilt in her heart. “Nothing in this universe can harm those things.” The other guests watched as Serayah continued speaking. “Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilise the wound. By consuming everything inside.”

The Doctor looked Rose in the eyes as he came to stand beside his wife.

“Is this because…” Rose began shakily. “Is this my fault?”

They looked at her for a moment before walking away, not giving her a response. She watched them go sadly.

They walked to each window, making sure they were closed.

“Eta, what if I tried to use my powers?” Serayah asked after a few moments, as she checked one of the windows in one of the church’s smaller rooms, as he checked another on the other side of the room.

He whirled around to look at her back as she tugged the lock into place. She turned to look at him and saw him staring at her with wide eyes.

“Don’t even think about it.” He growled at her. “Your powers will have absolutely no affect against them and you know it. Why would you even suggest it?”

“It was just an idea.” She said softly, taking his hand and squeezing it. “We have dealt with them before.”

“When there were more of us.” He reminded her as she sighed in defeat.

He pulled her into a hug and she buried her head in his broad chest.

“I’m scared, Eta.” She said softly after a few moments. “They can completely erase us. There will be no coming back, no regenerating. We’ll be dead for good.”

“I know.” He said softly, gently rubbing his hand over her the back of her head. “I know.”

“And we can’t even call the only daughter we have left.” Serayah muttered helplessly. “I just want to hear her voice, even if it’s her voicemail machine.”

The Doctor sighed, helpless. He knew exactly how his wife felt.

“Come on, we have a few places left to check.” He said, gently pushing her back slightly.

She nodded and the two walked out of the room and went to the Vestry. They found Pete locking the door and they ran to the window.

“There’s smoke coming out of the city, but no sirens.” Pete said, coming around the Registrar’s table and standing beside them, looking at the two as they looked out of the window. “I don't think it's just us. I think these things are all over the place. Maybe the whole world.”

The Doctor and Serayah watched in surprise as the beige car that killed Pete in the original timeline appeared at the corner of the road and turned around it as the driver covered his face with his arm before disappearing again.

“Was that a car?” Pete asked, glancing out of the window.

“It’s not important. Don’t worry about it.” The Doctor replied as he and Serayah left the Vestry, Pete gazing out of the window.

They went back to the main room of the church, going to the last area they would need to check. Serayah pulled back a curtain that hid a door as the Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver.

“Excuse me, Mister.” The groom called, coming up behind them with his bride.

“Doctor and Professor.” The Doctor corrected absently as he opened the door and looked at the two doors within. He stepped into the small space, Serayah watching from behind him.

“You seem to know what’s going on.” The groom said softly.

“WE give that impression, yeah.” The Doctor replied briskly, more focused on sonicking the doors.

“I just wanted to ask…” the groom started, glancing at his bride.

“Can you save us?” the beautiful bride asked fearfully, causing the two to look at them.

The Doctor switched off his screwdriver and they moved to stand on front of them.

“Who are you then?” The Doctor asked looing between the bride and groom.

“Stuart Hoskins.” The groom replied.

“Sarah Clarke.” The bride replied.

“And one extra.” Serayah said, looking down at the bride’s baby bump. “Boy or girl?”

“I don’t know.” The bride replied softly, running her hands over her baby bump. “I don’t want to know really.”

“How did all this get started?” the Doctor asked the couple, glancing at the baby bump before looking at them.

“Outside the Beatbox Club, 2:00 in the morning.” Stuart replied, looking at his bride with love in his eyes.

“Street corner. I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi.” Sarah added, looking at them with a smile.

“I took her home.” Stuart said with a bashful smile.

“Then what?” the Doctor asked, “Asked her for a date?”

“Wrote his number on the back of my hand.” Sarah told them with a smile.

“Never got rid of her since.” Stuart said, looking at his wife with a grin before looking back at the couple. “My dad said…” his grin faded as he looked down in sorrow, Sarah taking his hand in hers.

“I don't know what this is all about,” Sarah said shakily, looking at them as she fought back her tears, “and I know _we're_ not important…”

“Who said you're not important?” Serayah asked with a frown as she looked up at the couple, both taller than her.

“My wife and I have travelled to all sorts of places,” the Doctor told them. “Done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two.” He gestured to the bride and groom. “Street corner, 2:00 in the morning, getting a taxi home. We’ve never had a life like that.”

“Yes.” Serayah said with a nod to them. “We'll try and save you.”

Sarah looked at them tearfully for a long moment before Stuart gently ushered his bride away. The two looked at each other and their smiles faded slightly. They had no idea if they would be able to save them, but they were definitely going to do their best.

They leaned back against the choir stalls, having checked all the doors and windows, when Jackie came up to them with Baby Rose’s carry cot.

“Can you two look after Rose for me?” she asked, looking at the two of them.

“Sure.” Serayah replied to the young mother before her husband could give a snarky comment.

Serayah took the carry cot and Jackie smiled at them in thanks before walking away, presumably after a little boy wearing a dark grey suit. Serayah gently put the cot on the choir stall beside her and looked at the baby’s sweet face as she watched them with remarkably intelligent eyes before her face scrunched with a whimper – the tell-tale sign that she was about to start crying.

Serayah gently picked the baby up, cradling her in her arms as she looked up at her husband with a radiant smile lighting up her face. The Doctor watched as she turned back to look at the baby, taking the small hand in her own dainty one and playing with it as she spoke softly to the infant.

“There you are Rose, there’s no need to be upset.” Serayah crooned softly to the baby as her husband looked on with a gentle smile, remembering when she had done the same with their own children so long ago. “You are a good girl. Mummy’s going to come back in a few minutes. You don’t need to be upset.”

Slowly the baby stopped looking at them like she was going to start crying and gave them a gummy-grin, making the two adults laugh in amusement.

“Oh you just wanted to be picked up, didn’t you Rose?” The Doctor cooed to the baby, gently running the back of his finger over the smooth cheek.

Baby Rose gurgled at him in response as the couple sat on the floor with the infant in Serayah’s lap, leaning against the choir stall. Seeing Rose whimper, the Guardian Confessor created two small orbs of air, filled with multiple colours, the size of a small marble and gently floated them above the baby. Baby Rose laughed in delight as she reached out to the orbs. Serayah made them float just out of her reach as she laughed in delight.

“Do you think about having a child?” the Doctor quietly asked her after a short while.

He had been watching his wife as she played with Baby Rose and remembered how she had been with the toddler at the Tyler’s flat when they first returned Rose to her time and they were watching the newscasts about the spaceship. He watched as she played with the baby with the ease and familiarity of being a mother, regardless of how long it had been since they had a baby.

Serayah looked at him in surprise.

“Sometimes.” She admitted turning back to the baby and making the orbs float up and down, much to the infant’s delight as she laughed and clapped her tiny hands. “But at the same time, I don’t know if I’m ready to have a child right now.” She looked at him with large expressive eyes. “I’m still trying to get past the pain of losing everyone, Susan, David, Mum, Dad, even Kos. That being said, if it happens, then it happens.” She put a gentle hand on his cheek. “Why are you asking?”

“Just…” he sighed, “seeing you with baby Rose and the way you were with that toddler when we first took Rose home. I wonder if you want another child.”

“Do you?” she asked him. “I have given you my response, what about you?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted after a moment. “You’re right about still trying to deal with losing everyone. Sometimes, I wonder if having a child now, after we lost everything, is a good idea. Are we having a child because it’s something we want, or is it because we don’t want to be the last of our kinds?”

“You know any child we have is more likely to be an entirely new race, rather than one or the other like Susan and her mother had been Time Ladies rather than Guardian Confessors, don’t you?” Serayah asked him with a slight frown. “Remember what the Seer had told us?”

“I know.” He replied softly, letting baby Rose curl her tiny fingers around his larger one. “That’s the other thing. I don’t know if I would be able to handle the knowledge of them not being one or the other when they hit puberty.”

“Oh, my Eta.” Serayah sighed softly as she listened to the torment in her husband’s voice. She gently ran her fingers over his face and cupping his cheek. “You will love any child we have, the same way you love Siani as if she were of your own blood. You were the one who helped her learn to use her powers, who helped her through her nightmares and taught her everything she knows. You taught her how to control her powers so she wouldn’t destroy the world if her emotions got out of control. You are her father in every way, just as I am her mother. And you will show our child the same love and devotion.”

“How can you be certain?” He asked her, worry in his voice.

“Because I know your hearts.” She gently put her hand over his chest, where she could feel one of his hearts beat. “Just as well as I know my own.” She took his hand and placed it on her chest, where he could feel her hearts beating against his hand.

He smiled at her softly as he took his hand back and looked back at Baby Rose who was watching them intently, the small orbs Serayah had created disappearing in a small puff of air. She gurgled at them with a wide gummy grin.

“You aren’t going to bring about the end of the world are you, Rose?” he asked her playfully. They looked up as Rose walked up and crouched in front of them. She looked at her infant self with a smile. “Jackie gave her to us to look after. How times change.”

“I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken.” Rose said with a slight chuckle, in an attempt to make light-hearted conversation, before reaching out to touch her baby self.

Serayah grabbed her hand before she could touch the baby. “No. Don't touch the baby.” She said firmly, as the Reapers screeched outside, their shadows being seen as they flew past the windows. “You're both the same person.” She explained, her voice becoming slightly gentle. “That's a paradox, and we don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in.”

The Doctor turned to the baby and gave her the dummy, seeing her start to whimper at the sounds of the screeching.

“Can’t do anything right, can I?” Rose muttered self-depreciatingly.

“Since you ask, no.” the Doctor replied, turning to the older Rose. “So, don't-touch-the baby.” He added firmly in a commanding tone.

“I’m not stupid.” Rose said, glaring at him.

“You could have fooled me.” He snapped at her and turning to face Serayah as Rose turned away from them as much as possible given her crouched position. Serayah gave him a pointed look, silently telling him that Rose was already punishing herself. “All right…” he sighed and looked back at Rose. “I'm sorry. We weren’t really going to leave you on your own.”

“I know.” Rose replied softly, looking at the two of them as they played with her younger self.

“But between you and us,” Serayah spoke up softly. “We haven’t got a plan. No idea. No way out.”

“You’ll think of something.” Rose said reassuringly, looking at both of them.

“The entire Earth's been sterilised.” The Doctor said softly. “This, and other place like it,” he gestured tot eh church “are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old. And there's nothing we can do to stop them. There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening - my people would have stopped this. But they're all gone. And now my wife and I are going the same way.”

Serayah took his hand with her free one and interlocked their fingers.

“If I’d realized…” Rose began softly.

“Just… tell us you're sorry.” Serayah said softly, looking intently at the young girl.

“I am.” Rose said sincerely, looking both of them in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

The Doctor and Serayah looked at her for a long moment before he reached out and cupped her face with his larger hand. He smiled widely at her and stood up, pulling her into a tight hug. Rose pulled away after a few seconds as she felt something in his jacket pocket.

“Have you got something hot?” she asked looking at him.

He frowned in confusion and dug through his pocket, pulling something out only to toss it to the side because of the glowing heat it radiated.

“It’s the TARDIS key!” Serayah exclaimed, looking at the glowing gold key that landed in front of her and Baby Rose. The baby reached out to the glowing key, mesmerized by the shine and Serayah gently pulled her back. “No Rose. That’s hot. Here, would you like to play with the orbs again?” Serayah created the small orbs of air once again, making sure both of them were colourful as she made them float in the air.

The Doctor took of his jacket and crouched down to pick up the key. Rose crouched next to him as he held the key up, covered with his jacket.

“It’s telling me it’s still connected to the TARDIS.” He said with a grin as the two women smiled widely. “Come on.” He took Serayah’s hand and gently pulled her up as she still had Baby Rose in her arms, the small orbs of coloured air floating up with her as the baby giggled in delight. “We’ve got to get everyone to listen.”

“Leave that to me.” Serayah said with a smile as she, and Baby Rose in her arms with the two floating orbs, marched up to the pulpit. She looked around at the small crowd, milling about in two’s and three’s. She rapped on the surface of the pulpit loudly, gaining everyone’s attention. “If everyone would please sit down, we have an idea that might work.”

The moment she finished her sentence, they quickly took seats in front of her as the Doctor came to stand beside her. Baby Rose laughed in delight as the orbs she was playing with changed colours, earning a few strange looks, but overall not shocking them too badly as they were more concerned with the creatures outside that had killed nearly their entire race.

As soon as everyone was seated, the Doctor began to speak. “The inside of our ship was thrown out of the wound but we can use this” he held up the TARDIS key that he was holding with his jacket, “to bring it back. And once we've got our ship back, then we can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?”

The small crowd was silent as they looked around. Stuart picked up the mobile phone and held it up.

“Is this one big enough?” he asked, walking to the front as he took the back of the phone apart.

“Fantastic.” The Doctor said with a smile as he ran down the stairs to stand in front of Stuart.

“Here you go.” Stuart said, holding out the battery as the Doctor took out his screwdriver and put it in his mouth so he could have a free hand to use. “Good old Dad. There you go.”

Serayah rolled her eyes and expertly shifted Baby Rose into one arm, the orbs shifting slightly so that they were just out of the baby’s reach as she giggled and played with them, and took the jacket covered key out of her husband’s hand and held it in her free hand.

“Thanks Ayah.” he said absently with a grin as he used the screwdriver on the battery. “Just need to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back.”

Over the next several minutes, the Doctor continued to use the sonic screwdriver on the battery, taking the jacket covered key from Serayah, as she sat on one of the chairs with Baby Rose in her lap. She watched as he held the glowing key in mid-air right where the key slot should be and a few seconds later the TARDIS begin to materialize around it.

The Doctor looked at Serayah with a wide grin as he put his jacket back on and the small group sat up straight, watching with wonder at the ship’s slow materialisation around the key. The Doctor put his jacket back on and ran up to the pulpit.

“Right, no one touches that key.” The Time Lord said sternly. “Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, _zap_! Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us.” He turned to the bride and groom. “Stuart, Sarah you're going to get married, just like we said.”

He smiled brightly at them and they returned it as everyone let out cries of relief at the thought of being saved. The Doctor went to sit by Rose at the back while Serayah walked over to Jackie.

“Here, I think you would want you daughter with you.” Serayah told the blonde with a gentle smile, handing the baby back to her mother. Baby Rose whimpered as she reached out for the coloured orbs and Serayah laughed lightly, crouching next to Jackie’s chair. “Here you are, sweet child.” She gently floated the orbs back to the infant who immediately laughed in delight.

Serayah smiled softly as she watched the baby play in her mother’s lap for a moment before walking away.

“Do you have children?” Jackie asked her suddenly, taking in the slightly sad expression on the other woman’s face.

“Yes.” Serayah replied softly.

“How many?”

“We had two.” Serayah replied after a moment of silence. “And a son-in-law and a grand-daughter.”

“Had?” Jackie asked softly.

“One died as did my son-in-law and grand-daughter.” Serayah’s voice shook slightly at the memory of her beloved children.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Jackie said softly.

“Thank you.” Serayah smiled at the blonde and stood up, walking towards the back where her husband, Rose and Pete were talking.

 She reached them just as Pete was saying how the crisis they were in was his fault.

“This is my fault.” Rose said as she put a hand on her father’s clasped ones, Serayah taking a seat in front of Rose and angling herself to face the trio.

“No, love.” Pete said as Jackie walked up behind Serayah with Baby Rose in her arms. “I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault.”

“Her dad? How are you her dad?” Jackie asked quietly in a slightly heartbroken voice, making them all whip around to look at her. Her voice took on a horrified tone. “How old were you? 12?” Serayah and the Doctor shook their heads and distanced themselves slightly from the drama, walking to the other end of the rows they had been sitting in. “Oh, that’s disgusting!”

“Jacks, listen.” Pete pleaded softly as he stood up and looked at his wife, Rose watching them. He gestured to Rose as he said, “This is Rose.”

“Rose?” Jackie repeated in a quiet tone that belied her anger. “How sick is that? You give my daughter a second hand name?” Pete rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?”

“Oh, for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose!” Pete said frustrated as he took the baby from Jackie’s arms and turned towards the older Rose.

Serayah and the Doctor started in shock and ran towards Rose to keep her from touching the baby.

“Rose, no!” the Doctor cried out as Pete gently placed his infant daughter in the arms of his adult daughter.

Serayah reached the two first, snatching the baby away from the adult and giving her back to Jackie, but she was a moment too late as a Reaper appeared inside the church, screeching. The small group screamed as they caught sight of the creature.

“Everyone, behind us!” The Doctor yelled as Serayah stood beside him while the group hurriedly gathered behind them.

“We are the oldest things in here!” Serayah shouted at the Reaper as the couple walked forwards slightly, blocking off the path to the small group of humans behind them.

The Reaper chirped menacingly at them and swooped down.

“Doctor!” Rose screamed in terror as the Reaper pounced on the Time Lord, making him disappear. Serayah screamed in pain as she felt her bond with her husband break, falling to her knees as she clutched her chest in agony. “Professor!” Rose screamed as the Reaper swooped down over the screaming woman and made her disappear as well. The small orbs that Baby Rose had been playing with disappeared the moment the woman who created them disappeared, sending the infant into tears as her mother frantically tried to calm her.

Rose stared in horror and shock as the crowd screamed, running away from the Reaper as it flew above them to the materialising TARDIS and touched it. As soon as the Reaper touched it, both vanished and the key fell to the floor, no longer glowing.

Rose ran to the key and slowly picked it up.

“It's cold. The key's cold.” She said softly in shock as Pete slowly walked up behind her. “Oh, my God, they’re dead.” Pete reached out to hold his adult daughter, but he shrugged him off as realization hit her. “This is all my fault… the three of you… all of you… the whole world.”

Pete pulled her into a hug as she sobbed in to his shoulder. Outside, the sun sky began to darken as though a cloud covered the sun.

“This is it.” Bev said as they heard the Reapers screeched outside the church. “There's nothing we can do. It's the end.”

Rose pulled away from her father’s arms and sat alone in a corner of the darkened church. The rest of the group slowly split up into smaller groups, some going to the altar to pray while others sat in the chairs and held each other.

Pete slowly walked over to join his adult daughter after leaving the Vestry, where he had seen the beige car repeatedly drive around the corner from the window.

“The Doctor and the Professor really cared about you.” He said as he came to a stop in front of her, making her look up at him. “They didn't want you to go through it again, not if there was another way. Now there isn't.”

Rose stood up slowly and looked at him as he rolled down his sleeves and put his suit jacket back on.

“What are you talking about?” Rose asked in quiet confusion.

“The car that should’ve killed me, love.” Pete said. “It's here. The Doctor and the Professor worked it out way back, but they… er, they tried to protect me.” Rose’s eyes slowly filled with tears as she realized what her father was saying. “Still, they’re not in charge anymore. I am.”

“But you can’t.” she pleaded tearfully.

“Who am I, love?” Pete asked her, cupping her cheek with a gentle hand.

“My daddy.” Rose whispered tearfully as Jackie walked up to the pair.

“Jackie, look at her.” Pete said as he stepped back from Rose and looked at his wife. “She's ours.”

Jackie looked at her husband for a moment before looking at Rose, who smiled at her tearfully.

“Oh, of course.” Jackie breathed and pulled Rose into a hug, the younger girl weeping silently.

“I'm meant to be dead, Jackie.” Pete told Jackie after mother and daughter separated. “You're going to get rid of me at last.”

He gave a trembling grin to his wife as she looked at him tearfully.

“Don’t say that.” She pleaded.

“For once in your life, trust me. It's got be done. You've got to survive, because you've got to bring up our daughter.” Pete said to her and pulled her close for a sweet and tearful final kiss. Once they parted, he turned to Rose and said, “I never read you those bedtime stories. I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you.”

“You would’ve been.” Rose said through her tears as her voice broke.

“But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now.” Pete told her strongly.

“But it’s not fair.” Rose cried, looking up at him as tears streamed down her face.

“I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that.” Pete said with a smile. “And on top of that, I got to see you.” He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face and cupped her cheek. “And you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh? So, come on, do as your dad says.” she wiped away her tears, though more streamed down her face, as she picked up the vase and slowly handed it to him. “You going to be there for me, love?” Rose nodded. “Thanks for saving me.”

Pete pulled Rose and Jackie in for a tight hug, holding them both close. Rose squeezed her eyes shut and tried to imprint the moment into her memory so that she would never forget.  She tried to memorize the feel of his arms around her as he held her, the scent of his cologne and the strength of his arms.

After a long moment, that at the same time didn’t seem long enough, he pulled away from them and, holding the vase, ran out of the church without looking back. He ran to the gate and stopped, waiting for the car to appear. He saw the car appear just as a Reaper spotted him. He ran to the corner and stopped in the middle of the road, directly in the path of the oncoming car. The driver, his eyes widening in shock and surprise, flung his arm over his face.

“Goodbye, love.” Pete said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes as the car hit him.

The vase broke as soon as it hit the ground and the Reapers vanished.

The Doctor and Serayah walked up to either side of Rose, who was standing on the steps of the church with her eyes closed as her father was hit by the car, and gently put their hands on her shoulders.

As soon as she felt their touch her eyes shot opened and she looked at them.

“Go to him.” Serayah said softly. “Quick.”

She nodded and ran to the corner, falling to her knees next to her dying father. The driver was standing next to the car, this time having stopped as soon as he realized he had hit someone. Pete gazed into his daughter’s tear-filled eyes as he died, a smile on his face as he got to see who his daughter will grow up to be.

Rose tearfully kissed Pete’s forehead and stood up, looking at the body of her father. After several seconds, she looked up at the Doctor and the Professor with tears in her eyes as they looked back at her with sorrow.

For the first time, she truly began to realize what they had lost in the Time War, and the pain they were suffering. She slowly walked to them and took their outstretched hands, holding tightly as the three of them walked to the relocated TARDIS outside the Tandoori across the road.

“Does it get easier?” Rose asked after they entered the TARDIS and closed the doors behind them. The couple turned to her as she sat curled on the jump seat. She looked at them. “Does this pain get any easier?”

They exchanged looks and gently tugged her to the floor, sitting on either side of her as they leaned against a coral pillar.

“Yes, it does. It may take a long time, but it will.” The Doctor replied truthfully.

“The pain of losing your loved ones will always haunt you,” Serayah added softly, “but slowly, you will be able to breathe without feeling as if your heart is being shredded by glass.”

“I spent all my life not knowing who he was aside from stories that apparently my mother had made up.” Rose said quietly. “But it still hurts like hell.”

“I know.” Serayah said as the blonde rested her suddenly heavy head against the Doctor’s chest.

He slowly ran his hand over her back, an actioned mirrored by his wife. She sang softly to the heart-broken blonde the same we she had once done for her children when they had been young. The drained girl slowly fell asleep, listening to the soothing music from her friend and leaning against the other.

Once she had fallen asleep, the Doctor gently picked her up in his arms and took her to her room while Serayah went to the console and set the control on random, letting them drift in the Vortex without any particular destination.


End file.
